ATHENS -- Duane Notice and Tyrone Johnson each scored 17 points and South Carolina recovered after blowing a 21-point lead to beat Georgia 64-58 on Tuesday night.<br />
<br />
South Carolina (13-12, 4-9 Southeastern Conference) took its big lead at 34-13 and led 41-23 at halftime. The Gamecocks needed a strong finish to complete the season sweep of the Bulldogs, who never led.<br />
<br />
Georgia (16-9, 7-6) suffered its second straight home loss to a team with a losing SEC record. Auburn beat the Bulldogs 69-68 on Saturday.<br />
<br />
Georgia recovered from the big first-half deficit with a strong comeback and finally pulled even at 51-all on two free throws by Yante Maten.<br />
<br />
South Carolina reclaimed the lead with a basket by Mindaugas Kacinas, who had 13 points, and Johnson's 3-pointer. Following a driving layup by Charles Mann which cut the Gamecocks' lead to 58-55, Notice sank another 3.<br />
<br />
Before the game, South Carolina coach Frank Martin announced forward Demetrius Henry and guard Shamiek Sheppard were suspended for the remainder of the regular season for unspecified conduct detrimental to the team.<br />
<br />
Mann led Georgia with 17 points.<br />
<br />
After a steal and basket by Georgia's Kenny Gaines, who had 11 points, South Carolina scored the next 15 points. Laimonas Chatkevicius, a 6-foot-11 junior from Lithuania who averages only 8.3 points, had three of the Gamecocks' first four baskets - all coming on layups.<br />
<br />
South Carolina's 3-point shooting was an effective complement to the inside power game of Chatkevicius. The Gamecocks made 7 of 13 3s in the first half, including three by Johnson, and led 41-23 at the break.<br />
<br />
Georgia made only one 3-pointer in the first half but found its long-shooting touch in the second half. Nemanja Djurisic, who sat out most of the first half with three fouls, including a technical, hit his first 3-pointer to cut the South Carolina's lead to 43-33. Tyler Echols' 3 cut the deficit to single digits at 45-36.<br />
<br />
TIP-INS<br />
<br />
South Carolina: Guard Marcus Stroman missed his third straight game with a throat infection. ... South Carolina, which took a 67-50 home win over Georgia on Jan. 31, won in Athens for the first time since March 7, 2009. ... Martin said Henry and Sheppard could be reinstated for the SEC tournament. ... Kacinas had nine rebounds.<br />
<br />
Georgia: Georgia held out injured starting guard J.J. Frazier, who played the last two games with a hairline fracture in his left hand and suffered a fracture to the orbital bone in his face and a concussion in the second half of Saturday's loss to Auburn. ... Georgia forward Kenny Paul Geno had two points and six rebounds after missing 11 games with a broken left wrist.<br />
<br />
UP NEXT<br />
<br />
South Carolina: Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.<br />
<br />
Georgia: At Alabama on Saturday.
