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Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mississippi State survives South Carolina in OT, Gamecocks remain winless in SEC play

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Mississippi State needed overtime to get there, but the 14th-ranked Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3 SEC) held off South Carolina (10-10, 0-7) for a 65-60 road victory on Saturday.

South Carolina closed out regulation with a 19-5 run to erase a 14-point deficit and force overtime. Mississippi State led 50-36 with 8:50 to play before the offense went ice-cold. They missed 9 of their final 11 shots from the field as South Carolina made its move.

And the Gamecocks had multiple chances in overtime to steal the game. They just couldn’t take advantage.

Nick Pringle had an opportunity to tie the game at 59-all with less than 40 seconds remaining, but he missed a layup opportunity right at the rim and then, while attempting a putback, interfered with the ball while it was still above the cylinder.

After a well-executed full-court press forced a turnover with 8 seconds remaining, South Carolina went to the free throw line with a chance to cut a 61-58 game to a single point. Collin Murray-Boyles missed the first and then, off a miss on the second attempt, Pringle secured the rebound and immediately kicked it to the left wing where Arden Conyers was spotting up for a potential game-tying 3. The pass from Pringle went right through Conyers’ hands and out of bounds.

Mississippi State took possession, knocked down a pair of free throws, and iced the game. Riley Kugel got 4 of his team-high 15 points from the charity stripe in the final 5 seconds to secure the win.

Kugel was 1 of 5 Bulldogs to reach double figures scoring. KeShawn Murphy had 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Josh Hubbard had 12 points and 5 assists. Michael Nwoko and Claudell Harris Jr. each added 11 points.

South Carolina was led by 19 points from Jamarii Thomas. Conyers had 12 points while Murray-Boyles added a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double. But no one shot well for the Gamecocks, who finished the game at 29% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc. Conyers went 1-for-9 from the field. Thomas and Conyers combined to go 2-for-10 from beyond the arc.

The Gamecocks will keep searching for their first league win. They travel to Georgia next Tuesday.

Mississippi State hosts No. 4 Alabama on Wednesday.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.

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