National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Georgia 74, South Carolina 72
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 3, 2016
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials: # Lee Cassell, # James Gattis, # Tony Greene
Attendance: 15397

Senior guard Kenny Gaines scored 20 points, and Georgia used a late 11-0 run to take control and post a stunning 74-72 victory over South Carolina on Thursday in Southeastern Conference play at Columbia, S.C.

Junior guard J.J. Frazier scored seven of his 19 points during the decisive surge as the Bulldogs (16-12, 9-8 SEC) completed a regular-season sweep of the Gamecocks. Sophomore forward Yante Maten added 11 points and five rebounds, and Georgia overcame 19 turnovers to improve to 3-8 on the road.

Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for South Carolina (23-7, 10-7). Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell added 16 points, and senior forward Michael Carrera had 13 points but shot just 5-for-21 from the field.

Georgia trailed by three when Maten began the deciding spurt with two free throws. Frazier followed with a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 64-63 edge with 2:43 left. Maten hit a jumper and Frazier drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to six before Frazier added two free throws to make it 71-63 with 38.4 seconds left.

The Gamecocks made three 3-pointers in the final half-minute to tighten up the score but fell into fifth place in the SEC with one game remaining.

South Carolina trailed by nine points early in the second half before using an 8-0 burst to move within 43-42 on Thornwell's tip-in with 16:57 remaining. Carrera later scored seven consecutive points, and his two free throws made it 51-49 with 9:05 left to provide the Gamecocks with their first lead since the opening minutes.

South Carolina boosted its lead to five before Georgia rebounded with seven consecutive points to take a 57-55 advantage on a short jumper by freshman forward Mike Edwards with 6:28 to play. The Gamecocks answered with an 8-3 run and led 63-60 after Thornwell's jumper with 3:31 to play before going three-plus minutes without a point.

Gaines had 14 first-half points, and Georgia held a 39-34 lead at the break. The Bulldogs recovered from an early six-point deficit by rattling off 10 consecutive points and led the rest of the half.
Top Game Performances
 
Georgia   South Carolina
Kenny Gaines 20 Scoring Mindaugas Kacinas 21
J.J. Frazier 7 Assists Sindarius Thornwell 7
J.J. Frazier 9 Rebounds Laimonas Chatkevicius 7
J.J. Frazier 7 Free Throws Made Mindaugas Kacinas 4
Mike Edwards 1 Steals Michael Carrera 3
Yante Maten 3 Blocks Laimonas Chatkevicius 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Georgia 74 40.0 7-19 23-27 11 43 9 4 19
South Carolina 72 34.2 9-26 13-16 11 28 3 9 9