Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:59PM

Dogs routed by Gamecocks on the road

By The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Keyshawn Bryant had his first double-double of the season and South Carolina's defense smothered Georgia in the Gamecocks' 83-59 win on Wednesday night.

Bryant finished with 19 points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a career-best tying three steals. Jermain Couisnard added 18 points, AJ Lawson scored 12 points and Justin Minaya 10.

Bryant scored all his 11 first-half points during a 21-4 run that gave South Carolina (4-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) the lead for good, and made it 32-19 when Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 3:17 left before the break. Andrew Garcia made a layup to trim Georgia's deficit to 41-35 with 16:38 to play. Cousinard answered with a 3-pointer before Bryant made two free throws and Minaya hit a 3 in an 8-2 spurt, and the Bulldogs trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Freshman K.D. Johnson scored 13 points and Garcia finished with 10 for Georgia (9-6, 2-6).

The Bulldogs made six of their first 13 shot and led 14-8 after Sahvir Wheeler hit a jumper with 11:33 left in the first half, but shot just 28% (15 of 53) the rest of the way. The Gamecocks defense contested jumpers, challenged shots at the rim and forced three Georgia shot-clock violations. The Bulldogs made just 4 of 26 from 3-point range in their lowest scoring game of the season.

“The bottom line is our lack of shot making hurt us on the defensive end,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said. “We get quiet when we’re not making shots, and it’s a tough night … We’re going to have to do something different defensively because we’re not into the ball or getting under the way that we need to as guards, and our bigs are not providing enough support when that ball gets driven.

"When we’re doing that, we put ourselves in a position where we’re not in position to rebound as well. The rebounding was pretty equal, but at the end of the day, the offensive boards they got, they turned into buckets and threes.”

Bryant, a 6-foot-6 junior who missed most of December and half of January for undisclosed reasons, is averaging 22.0 points in four games since returning.

South Carolina snapped a three-game skid.

  • Associated Categories: Sports
  • Associated Tags: Georgia basketball
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