Bubblicious: South Carolina beats Mississippi State to keep slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive
By Adam Spencer
Published:
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:
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— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 4, 2020
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— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 4, 2020
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.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
