By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Just when you thought LSU was done for the season, it somehow rose from the grave to win at South Carolina, 92-87, in overtime Saturday afternoon before a sparse crowd at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Tigers (14-8, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) snapped a three-game losing streak to win just their second SEC game of the season after losing at home Wednesday to one of the worst teams in the league in Mississippi State.
LSU also won without star point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who missed the game after aggravating his ankle injury against Mississippi State. Thomas missed LSU’s first five SEC games of the season with the injury.
“Really thankful to win,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “It’s been choppy with the injury to D.J. and the poor performance on Wednesday. But we were ready to go from opening jump.”
LSU never trailed in the first half or in overtime. Pablo Tamba put LSU up 79-78 in the opening moments of the OT. And Max Mackinnon put the Tigers in control of the extra period on a wide open three-pointer for an 89-85 lead with 21 seconds to go on a Tamba assist.
A free throw by Rashad King put LSU up 90-87 with 7.3 seconds left before Marquel Sutton put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk for the 92-87 final in the final seconds. South Carolina (11-11, 3-7 SEC) lost its third straight.
King hit 7 of 8 free throws on the day, including 5 of 6 in the overtime period, and finished with a season-high 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. That was key as King replaced Thomas in the lineup. King also had seven rebounds, three assists and only one turnover with a steal.
“Rashad King was terrific,” McMahon said. “He drew six fouls. He committed only one turnover.”
Center Mike Nwoko led LSU with 21 points. Sutton had 16 with eight rebounds, and MacKinnon had 15 with eight assists while hitting 3 of 6 shots from long range.
“I really challenged Nwoko to be more physical inside,” McMahon said. “And he did that.”
The game went into overtime tied at 78-78 as Nwoko tied it at 78 on a layup with 1:39 to go. After Eli Ellis missed a three-pointer with 37 seconds to go for South Carolina, King rebounded for the Tigers with :33 left. LSU called timeout at the :21 mark to set up a play.
King got the inbounds pass and was double teamed before calling a timeout with 6.2 seconds to play. King got a three-point attempt with five seconds left, but missed. South Carolina had the last shot of regulation at the buzzer, but it was a 65 footer by Meechie Johnson that was not close.
Johnson led the Gamecocks with 21 points and six assists. Kobe Knox had 15, Ellis 14 and Elijah Strong 12.
LSU led by 13 in the first half before taking just a 36-35 lead into the break. The Gamecocks did not take their first lead of the game until the 15:08 mark of the second half at 49-47 on a dunk by Grant Polk.
The game stayed close the rest of the way with several lead changes. A Knox layup for a 67-65 South Carolina lead was the fifth lead change of the second half at the 8:40 mark.
Despite coming off its worst game of the season on Wednesday with the 80-66 loss to lowly Mississippi State and losing Thomas for the game, the Tigers came out on fire. LSU took a 10-point lead at 21-11 on a three-pointer by guard P.J. Carter at the 11:55 mark.
Sutton gave the Tigers their biggest lead of the half at 28-15 with 8:08 to go on a slam dunk. But the Gamecocks stormed back to outscore LSU, 10-0, to get within 28-25 and got within 36-35 on a short jumper by Johnson at the buzzer.
“The ball moved,” McMahon said. “We had 23 assists on 31 made baskets. That’s the way we have to keep playing on offense.”
LSU is off this week before playing its next game next Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network) against Georgia (16-6, 4-5 SEC), which lost at home by 92-77 to Texas A&M on Saturday.
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