Silas Demary Jr. scored 16 points, including a critical basket down the stretch, as Georgia survived several comeback attempts by South Carolina and earned a 73-64 victory Tuesday night in Columbia, S.C.
Blue Cain added 10 of his 14 in the second half as the Bulldogs (19-11, 7-10 SEC) enhanced their chances on the NCAA Tournament bubble and won their third straight. Asa Newell contributed 11 points as Georgia shot 48.1 percent and never trailed.
Collin Murray-Boyles continued his late surge and led all scorers with 24 points but South Carolina (12-18, 2-15) was unable to duplicate its dominating win over Arkansas from Saturday. Nick Pringle added 11 but Zachary Davis and Jacobi Wright were held to a combined 14 points as the Gamecocks made 10 threes but shot 37.3 percent from the field.
Demary made 7 of 13 shots and none were bigger than the basket he sank with 1:22 remaining.
The Bulldogs held a 10-point lead with about seven minutes to go but Pringle converted an alley-oop dunk with 1:52 left to cut the margin to 62-58. Georgia outscored South Carolina 11-6 the rest of the way, and Demary’s basket out of a timeout prompted the game-ending surge.
Following the timeout, Demary got possession well above the 3-point line, drove past Davis and Pringle and sped in for a basket with 1:22 left. After Murray-Boyles made two free throws, the Bulldogs finished it off by sinking seven foul shots the rest of the way.
Georgia took control early and held a 38-24 lead on a two-handed dunk by Somto Cyril with 3:28 left. After the Bulldogs held a 40-29 lead by intermission, Jamarii Thomas hit two 3s in the opening 4:52 to move the Gamecocks within 42-38. They trailed 44-41 following a layup by Murray-Boyles with 13 minutes left.
Pringle converted a three-point play to cut the lead to 49-47 with 9:24 left and Georgia countered again, taking a 57-47 lead on consecutive 3s by Cain.
–Field Level Media
