National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
South Carolina 81, Mississippi St. 68
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 28, 2015
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials: # Ron Groover, # Antinio Petty, # Brian Shey
Attendance: 14022

South Carolina 81, Mississippi State 68: Tyrone Johnson scored a career-high 28 points as the Gamecocks turned away the visiting Bulldogs in a battle for SEC positioning.

Laimonas Chatkevicius matched his season high with 18 points and added nine rebounds for South Carolina (14-14, 5-11 SEC), which pulled even for 11th place in the conference, one game behind 10th-place Tennessee. Duane Notice contributed 13 points for the Gamecocks.

Craig Sword scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed eight boards to lead Mississippi (12-17, 5-11). Gavin Ware scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, who have dropped four in a row and six of seven.

Notice knocked down a 3-pointer to give South Carolina a 25-15 lead with just over 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half and connected again from beyond the arc to send the Gamecocks into the break up 39-31. The Bulldogs shot 59.1 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes but went 2-of-8 from the free-throw line.

I.J. Ready split a pair at the line to pull Mississippi State within 43-38 with over 17 minutes left, but Chatkevicius scored seven during a 9-0 burst to spread it back out. Johnson’s free throws made it a 59-41 gap with 12 1/2 minutes to play and the Bulldogs had a late run fall short.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
The Gamecocks entered last in the SEC in field-goal percentage at 39.9 but shot 46.3 percent against the Bulldogs. … The teams are tied for 11th place and need to jump to 10th to avoid having to play on the first day of the SEC tournament. … South Carolina went 23-of-34 from the line while Mississippi State finished 19-of-29.
Top Game Performances
 
Mississippi St.   South Carolina
Craig Sword 26 Scoring Tyrone Johnson 28
I.J. Ready 7 Assists Duane Notice 5
Craig Sword 8 Rebounds Laimonas Chatkevicius 9
Craig Sword 4 Free Throws Made Tyrone Johnson 13
Oliver Black 1 Steals Sindarius Thornwell 2
Craig Sword 1 Blocks Laimonas Chatkevicius 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Mississippi St. 68 47.8 5-15 19-29 11 26 1 3 12
South Carolina 81 46.3 8-24 23-34 19 29 3 4 7