Wright's game winner sends South Carolina past Missouri in 71-69 OT thriller
Missouri's Aidan Shaw, left, and South Carolina's B.J. Mack, right, battle for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. South Carolina won 71-69 in overtime. Credit: AP/L.G. Patterson
COLUMBIA, Mo. — South Carolina reserve Jacobi Wright scored 11 points and his fadeaway jumper over Missouri's 7-foot-5 Connor Vanover with 13 seconds left in overtime served as the game winner and the Gamecocks beat the Tigers 71-69 on Saturday.
B.J. Mack led South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC) with 21 points, shooting 7 for 13 and making all six of his foul shots. Ta’Lon Cooper scored 11 and Myles Stute 10 for South Carolina.
Noah Carter led Missouri (8-8, 0-3) with 23 points, shooting 9 for 20 overall but just 2 for 10 from 3-point range. Carter's final miss from 3 was an off-balance, contested shot as time expired to end the game.
Sean East II added 15 points for Missouri and Tamar Bates scored 12. Missouri never trailed in the second half until overtime.
Wright made two foul shots with 2:58 left in overtime to give South Carolina a 64-62 lead, the Gamecocks' first since Cooper's dunk for a 32-31 lead with 1:12 left before halftime. After Wright's foul shots, Cooper converted a three-point play to push the lead to 67-62.
After Carter and Mack traded layups to make it 69-64, Carter made a pair of foul shots with 1:22 left and made a 3 to tie it at 69 with 36 seconds to go before Wright's game winner.
Cooper's 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in regulation knotted it at 62. Missouri called timeout with 19 seconds remaining to set a play. East dribbled for a final shot before Cooper fouled him with 7.4 seconds for just the Gamecocks' sixth foul of the half. Off the dead ball, East missed a tough jumper at the buzzer that Cooper almost blocked.
South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris laughs with the referee during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. South Carolina won 71-69 in overtime. Credit: AP/L.G. Patterson
South Carolina survived 16 turnovers, one off its season-high 17.
South Carolina hosts Georgia on Tuesday. Missouri travels to face Alabama on Tuesday.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here
