COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Dave Odom sounded like a character on Sesame Street after the Gamecocks won back-to-back Southeastern conference games for the first time this season.
“So — one, two, we can count to two. Now let’s see if we can do three,” coach David Odom said.
The Gamecocks (16-10, 6-7) play Auburn on Saturday, and each win is crucial as they look to gain an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
Jamel Bradley scored 16 points including 4-of-10 3-pointers as South Carolina beat LSU 66-53 on Wednesday.
The Gamecocks made several second half runs, but the Tigers (14-12, 4-9) always caught back up.
But with 5:20 left and LSU trailing 52-49, South Carolina went on a 10-2 run capped by Rolando Howell’s steal and breakaway dunk with 1:29 left. The Tigers couldn’t recover.
Odom said LSU — which is hoping for an NIT appearance — was a postseason team.
“To be able to beat them tonight, I think it speaks volumes about where our team has come from, where they are now,” Odom said. And “where they might be able to go.”
After one-point losses to No. 12 Kentucky and No. 5 Alabama, Odom said it was good to see his team make plays at the end of the game to win. South Carolina outscored LSU 14-6 in the final 5:20.
The Gamecocks’ defense made most of the plays down the stretch. The Gamecocks forced the Tigers into ten second half turnovers compared to South Carolina’s five.
South Carolina held Ronald Dupree, LSU’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, to just six points Wednesday, all of them in the second half. He had seven turnovers.
“South Carolina doesn’t have many weaknesses defensively because they are so sound and they are prepared,” LSU coach John Brady said. “They did a nice job on Dupree.”
Brady said the Gamecock defense made Dupree rush some of his shots.
“I didn’t think we played poorly, I just thought South Carolina just played better than we did for longer,” Brady said.
The Tigers were led by Torris Bright who had 15 points. Antonio Hudson added 14.
“I’ve said for the last three weeks if we could score 65 points we’d be okay,” Brady said. “Our team is not a mystery. Ronald Dupree gets six points — we can’t score 65.”
Howell, Aaron Lucas and Chuck Eidson all scored 10 for South Carolina. Eidson also added six assists.
The first two times South Carolina pulled away in the second half, LSU coach John Brady called a timeout and slowed the momentum.
The Tigers were behind 48-42 after the first timeout, but Jermaine Williams answered with a 3-pointer. After Bray called a second timeout down 52-45, Brad Bridgewater’s jumper and a lay-up by Dupree closed the gap to 52-47 with 5:20 left.
South Carolina trailed 36-32 with 18:13 left but Bradley hit back-to-back 3-pointers to retake the lead for South Carolina. The Gamecocks would never trail again.