Field Level Media
Jan 22, 2019
Felipe Haase made a go-ahead 3-point basket with 31 seconds to play, and Chris Silva scored 32 points as South Carolina knocked off No. 16 Auburn 80-77 on Tuesday night in Columbia, S.C.
The Tigers missed two chances to retake the lead in the final seconds -- a 3-point attempt from Chuma Okeke and a jumper from Danjel Purifoy.
It was Haase's only 3-point attempt of the game. He finished with nine points.
Silva nailed two free throws with three seconds remaining for the final margin. He was nearly unstoppable all game, making 11 of 12 shots from the field and 10 of 11 on free throws. He also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
Hassani Gravett added 13 points for host South Carolina (10-8, 5-1 Southeastern Conference), which bounced back from a loss at LSU. Gravett also supplied a game-high six assists.
Bryce Brown and Jared Harper each scored 17 points, and Okeke had 13 points for Auburn (13-5, 2-3), which was coming off a two-point loss Saturday to Kentucky. The Tigers have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Auburn finished 7-for-25 on 3-point attempts.
South Carolina went up 60-52 before the Tigers shaved the gap to three points less than a minute later.
But the lead swelled to 71-61 before another quick response from Auburn, which scored three baskets in 63 seconds as the Gamecocks went 0-for-2 with two turnovers.
Brown's 3-pointer cut it to 71-70. Then the Tigers went ahead 75-73 on two Brown free throws with 3:14 left.
The Gamecocks were in a stretch of almost five minutes with only Gravett's tip-in adding to their scoring total.
Auburn led 38-37 at halftime despite 3-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers and eight turnovers. Plus, forward Anfernee McLemore had picked up three fouls.
South Carolina led 25-14 with less than nine minutes to play in the first half. After that, Brown had all 10 of his points in the opening half to pull Auburn back into it.
Silva had 14 first-half points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and 4-for-4 shooting at the foul line. The other South Carolina starters were a combined 4-for-19 from the field before halftime. The Gamecocks received a boost from Gravett, who hit two 3-pointers off the bench.
--Field Level Media