USC 74, Vanderbilt 71
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A.J. Lawson hit two free throws with 23.1 seconds left, and the South Carolina Gamecocks rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Vanderbilt 74-71 Wednesday night to remain perfect in Southeastern Conference play.
Saben Lee's 15 footer that could have given Vanderbilt the lead bounced off the rim with five seconds left. Hassani Gravett sealed the victory with two more free throws with 2 seconds left.
South Carolina (9-7, 4-0) came in having won its first three SEC games for only the third time since joining the conference. This time, the Gamecocks led for less than 2 minutes early and never by more than two until the final seconds.
Lawson finished with 24 points for the Gamecocks, and Gravett scored all of his 17 in the second half. Keyshawn Bryant added 13 on a night where Chris Silva, South Carolina's leading scorer, finished with a season-low two points after foul trouble limited him to 13 minutes.
Vanderbilt (9-7) now is 0-4 in SEC play for the first time in program history.
The Commodores led 68-63 when officials called a technical on Saben Lee for celebrating blocking Gravett's shot at the basket. Gravett hit both free throws with 1:38 to go, then added a 3 tying it up at 68 with 1:12 left.
Simisola Shittu hit a free throw and missed the second for Vandy's last lead at 71-70 with 29.8 seconds left. South Carolina finished it off at the line.
Aaron Nesmith scored a career-high 23 points for Vanderbilt. The native of Charleston, South Carolina, and South Carolina's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018 opened by hitting his first five shots, including his first four 3-pointers, in helping Vanderbilt lead by as much as 12 in the first half and 39-29 at halftime.
Lee finished with 17 points, and Shittu had 13.
After the teams combined for 26 fouls in the first half, pace of play slowed even more in the second half with foul after foul called. Five Commodores and five Gamecocks had at least three fouls apiece with 15:00 left with each team trying almost as many free throws as shots from the floor. The game finished with a combined 55 fouls.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks came in fourth in the SEC averaging 81 points per game in league play. They finally got into a rhythm shooting just in time, hitting five of seven as they made a 12-2 run to whittle away Vandy's lead.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores are second-best in the SEC at getting to the free throw line and making shots. But they struggled mightily at the line against South Carolina, and none worse than Lee. He was 9 of 16 at the line, not counting all the back ends he didn't get to try after missing his first chances. Vanderbilt missed a season-high shots at the line, going 24 of 37 (64.9 percent).
UP NEXT
South Carolina: Visits LSU on Saturday.
Vanderbilt: Hosts No. 23 Mississippi State on Saturday night.
Clemson 72, Georgia Tech 60
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) - Marcquise Reed had 19 of his career-high 30 points in the opening half as Clemson opened up a double-digit lead and held on to defeat Georgia Tech 72-60 for its first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season Wednesday night.
The Tigers (11-6, 1-3 ACC) had dropped their first three league games for the first time in 19 years and came out firing early to make sure the losing streak would not continue.
Reed got things going as he made his first five shots and scored 11 of Clemson's first 20 points as it opened a 20-2 lead less than eight minutes into the game.
After Georgia Tech closed to 35-30 at the half, Reed was at it once more as he scored seven of his team's first 12 points of the period to rebuild the margin with his basket making it 47-33 with 15:03 left. The Yellow Jackets (10-7, 2-2) got to 68-60 on James Banks III's dunk with 1:20 left. But they got no closer as they lost their fourth straight to the Tigers.
The defeat also extended Georgia Tech's frustration at Littlejohn Coliseum where it has lost 14 in a row since its last win in February 2005.
Banks led Georgia Tech with 16 points.
Clemson appeared to have the game well in hand, making nine of its first 11 shots to lead 20-2 just seven minutes in. The Tigers were still up 35-20 after Reed's three foul shots with 2:45 left in the half.
That's when the Yellow Jackets found their touch and their defense to close the half on a 10-0 run. Jose Alvarado and Curtis Haywood II hit 3-pointers and Banks blocked a sure dunk by Aamir Simms.
Georgia Tech made its last four shots of the half after starting 5 of 19 from the field.
Elijah Thomas had 11 points and Aamir Simms 10 for Clemson.
Reed made 10 of 13 field-goal attempts and all eight of his foul shots. He also had six rebounds and four steals. His points output bettered his previous high of 28 points set at Virginia Tech in February 2018.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets were coming off a win at Syracuse and hoped to springboard from that into another win on the road. But they missed their first five shots and committed four turnovers (two on shot clock violations) in Clemson's quick start.
Clemson: The Tigers, who began the year in the Top 25, were in danger of falling off the ACC map with a home loss here. Instead, their senior leader in Reed took control early for the win. It was Reed's eighth game with 20 points or more and his first of the season in ACC play.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech: Returns home to play Louisville on Saturday.
Clemson: Heads to Florida State on Tuesday night.
