by Chris Macaluso
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — The LSU Basketball team continued the search for its second Southeastern Conference win in vain Wednesday night with a 68-56 loss to South Carolina at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers’ sixth loss in their last eight games dropped their record to 11-7 overall, 1-6 in the SEC. South Carolina improved its record to 14-6 overall, 3-4 in the SEC. Despite the win, South Carolina remained in sole possession of last place in the SEC East because of Vanderbilt’s 68-62 upset win over Alabama.
LSU made just one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half, helping South Carolina turn a halftime tie into an insurmountable lead. The Tigers trailed by 11 with 6:20 left in the game before going on a 9-0 scoring run to cut the Gamecock lead to 53-51 with 4:28 remaining.
But, as in nearly every other SEC game this year, LSU ran out of steam in the closing minutes. South Carolina pulled away for good in the last minute, extending its lead to 68-54 before Tiger guard Collis Temple III layed in a shot with :02 to play. Temple finished the game with just five points. Ronald Dupree led LSU with 19.
LSU shot just 26.9 percent from the floor in the second half and just 38.2 percent for the game.
Long-range shooting kept South Carolina in the lead for most of the first half, as the Gamecocks hit on 7-13 from beyond the arch for 53.8 percent. South Carolina entered the game shooting just 27.5 percent from three-point range, good for last in the SEC. USC Guard Jamel Bradley stunned the Tiger crowd by nailing six threes before the first half buzzer. He finished the first half with 20 points and led all scorers with 25 for the game which included 7-10 three pointers.
USC took an early 6-2 lead as LSU made just 2-7 shots in the first 3:30. But the Tigers made up the lead quickly by making five of its next seven shots, including a Jack Warner three-pointer to give LSU a 16-13 lead with 11:00 to play in the first.
Bradley put the Gamecocks up 24-19 when he hit his fifth three of the opening half at the 7:58 mark. Four-straight points by Tiger forward Jason Wilson helped LSU make up the South Carolina lead and tie the score 26-26 with with less than 6:30 left in the half.
LSU trailed by five again in the first half when Bradley connected from long range for the sixth time to give USC a 31-26 lead at the 4:47 mark. LSU fought back and tied the game for the eighth time in the first half on a five-foot jumper by Temple with just nine seconds to play making the halftime score 35-35.
The Tigers play their next two on the road at Alabama Saturday and Ole Miss next Wednesday before returning to Baton Rouge to take on Auburn Feb., 10.