KNOXVILLE, Tenn. With 40 seconds remaining, Ta’Lon Cooper made a game-winning 3-pointer that scored eighteen points, and B.J.
Mack added sixteen more to help South Carolina defeat No. 5 Tennessee 63-59 on Tuesday night.
The Gamecocks (18-3, 6-2 SEC) have defeated the two top-ranked teams in the league thanks to 13 points from Myles Stute. On
January 23, they defeated Kentucky, ranked No. 10.
“The players are highly respected,” stated Lamont Paris, the coach of the Gamecocks. They are quite popular among believers. They
are a self-assured bunch.
It was the first road victory over a top-5 team for South Carolina since 1997.
“We just fought,” Paris remarked. We truly succeeded in dissecting a few action ideas, such as “block out and recover,” “take care of
the
Coach Rick Barnes of the Vols stated, “(South Carolina) scored 63.” “We want to keep our opponent’s score below 69.” We weren’t a
particularly strong attacking unit.
Barnes bemoaned the fact that his squad only made 12 of 20 free throws and missed 10 layups.
Barnes declared, “You can’t shoot like we did from the free-throw line and miss ten point-blank layups and win.”
Stute’s two free throws with thirty seconds remaining gave South Carolina a three-point lead. With five seconds left, Knecht made a
three-pointer to trim the Tennessee lead to just two points. With four seconds remaining, Stute made two more free throws to secure
the victory.
Paris remarked, “(Stute) respected the moment.” “He took the decisions.”
Tennessee’s field goal percentage was 36% (21 of 58).
In the first half, Mack scored nine points and Cooper scored ten for the Gamecocks. With 13 points, Knecht led Tennessee, which made
2 of 11 (18%) long-distance shots.
The Gamecocks built their lead in the first half by holding Tennessee to 36% (12 for 33) shooting and having a 21-19 rebounding
advantage.
IMPORTANT LESSONS
South Carolina: After battling to an 11-21 record the previous year, the Gamecocks have found fresh life thanks to the addition of nine
players to the squad. .. The Gamecocks have reacted to Paris’s swift uniting of the team with a superb start to the season.
Tennessee: With his 130th start, Vescovi set a program record. Eleven of the Vols’ 13-game home winning streak this season were
ended.
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