Dogs drop heartbreaker to Gamecocks

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Georgia found out Saturday night what No. 1 Kentucky already knew: South Carolina's never out of it with Devan Downey.

The Gamecock senior star had 33 points, including the driving, go-ahead basket with 50 seconds to go, in a 78-77 win over the Bulldogs.

Downey's performance followed a 30-point showing in a 68-62 victory over the top-ranked Wildcats last Tuesday night.

"To see a guy, he's the guy that has to be stopped, he's option one, two and three for us, and still put up 30 a game at this level," South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. "That's pretty special."

More and more fans around the Southeastern Conference have discovered that, too.

A week ago, Downey hit an improbable driving bank shot with 5 seconds left that looked like it beat Florida before the Gators' Chandler Parsons trumped him with a buzzer-beating three.

Then came Kentucky, where Downey continually drove past freshman star John Wall and floated buckets and bankers over Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins.

This time, Downey rescued the Gamecocks (13-8, 4-3 SEC) down the stretch, when more than few people in the Colonial Life Arena wondered if the spark they saw a few nights earlier would be there.

South Carolina trailed 63-54 with less than 10 minutes left when Downey got going, scoring half of his team's last 24 points.

The capper came in the final minute, Downey driving through and around four Bulldogs to lay in a banker high off the glass.

"At the end, the ball's in my hands," Downey said. "There's no other way."

Georgia had its chances to win after Downey's last basket.

Trey Thompkins slipped under the hoop for what seemed a simple put-in that sailed over the rim and out of bounds.

Then, after Downey fouled Dustin Ware, the Bulldogs' most reliable foul shooter missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3.5 seconds left.

On Ware's miss, Georgia coach Mark Fox chose to put three players back to keep Downey from a game-winning coast-to-coast drive. Instead Ramon Galloway collected the rebound and South Carolina held on.

Fox said his strategy was as much his confidence in Ware - third in the SEC at 82.8 percent from the line - as his fear of Downey's talent.

"We're competing and we keep responding through each experience to get better," Fox said. "As difficult as this is to get on the bus with, we'll go back to work."

No one's worked harder than Downey this season. The senior, the SEC's leading scorer, has 30 or more points in five of seven league games.

Downey's focused completely on his team's showing, pushing aside his amazing run.

"It's the run the team's on," he chided one questioner.

With Downey, anything seems possible for South Carolina.

Sam Muldrow had a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double in 70 career games.

The Gamecocks looked done when Thompkins nailed a 3-pointer to move in front 63-54 with 9:26 to go.

Muldrow began South Carolina's rally with a bucket, then blocked Thompkins' shot to set up a basket for Brandis Raley-Ross.

Downey hit a 3 to keep things going and Raley-Ross added one from behind the arc to draw the Gamecocks within 70-67.

Downey tied it a minute later with a 3-pointer. And then, after Thompkins' bucket, made two foul shots to knot it at 74-all.

Ware gave Georgia its final lead, 77-76, after a 3 with 1:16 to play.

It ended a crazy week around campus that began with South Carolina's landmark win over Kentucky. Horn was a national radio guest and Downey's stellar performance in leading the Gamecocks to their first victory over a No. 1 team was shown again and again.

Horn, who went recruiting the morning after the Kentucky win, stressed the importance of returning to work ready to improve.

It looked like the Downey and the Gamecocks listened.

Downey opened with two straight 3s and added a third basket as the Gamecocks broke on top 12-7.

But South Carolina couldn't sustain the momentum and the Bulldogs pulled ahead as Thompkins and Travis Leslie took control.

Thompkins' final basket of the half with 1:29 left made the lead 36-30 when the Gamecocks got a boost from an unlikely source in freshman Stephen Spinella.

Spinella, who averaged less than 8 minutes a game this year, drilled two 3-pointers in less than 25 seconds to tie the score.

Leslie, though, made both ends of a 1-and-1 to send Georgia to the locker room ahead 38-36.