South Carolina entered Tuesday night’s home game against Mississippi State with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs entered with a 19-10 overall record (10-6 in SEC action).

Therefore, it was a huge bubble game for the NCAA Tournament picture. In fact, Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently has Mississippi State as one of the first 4 teams out of the bracket and South Carolina as one of the next 4 out.

That will change now that the Gamecocks have taken down the Bulldogs to even up both teams’ SEC records at 10-7. South Carolina got out to a big first-half lead before letting the Bulldogs come back. However, by the time the final buzzer sounded, the Gamecocks earned an 83-71 victory.

Senior Maik Kotsar was the star for the Gamecocks, scoring a team-high 20 points. However, the big plays came courtesy of Keyshawn Bryant, who had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 highlight-reel dunks:

Reggie Perry led the way for the Bulldogs with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Tyson Carter scored 24 points to lead everyone.

Mississippi State closes out the regular season with a home game against rival Ole Miss. The Gamecocks head to Vanderbilt for a tune-up before the SEC Tournament begins in Nashville next week. Both teams still have some work to do to make the NCAA Tournament field.