South Carolina men's basketball stuns No. 6 Kentucky in lopsided 79-62 victory
COLUMBIA — The inbound play couldn’t have developed more perfectly for Kentucky. Star freshman guard Reed Sheppard was wide open under the basket. All he had to do was lay it in. But he didn’t give it enough effort, as his shot barely grazed the iron with 30 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s first half.
South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson pulled down the rebound and went the other way. The result: Gamecocks guard Zachary Davis sank a 3-pointer just before time expired as the hosts sent the Wildcats into the locker room trailing 33-25 — tying Kentucky’s largest halftime deficit of the season.
It didn’t get any better for No. 6 Kentucky after the break, as South Carolina went on to win, 79-62, at Colonial Life Arena.
Fans easily burst through the thin yellow ropes to rush the court and celebrate the latest high point in surprising season. It should cost South Carolina a $100,000 fine from the SEC under league policy, but no one was concerned about that at the moment.
“It's never happened” before, Gamecocks senior forward Josh Gray said. “That was a great experience.”
The sold-out crowd — Colonial Life Arena seats 18,000 — was encouraged to wear black. The fans, including football coach Shane Beamer, yelled and screamed as time ticked down on the victory.
Sheppard’s miss at the rim encapsulated the performance for the Wildcats (14-4, 4-2 SEC), who suffered their most decisive loss of the 2023-24 campaign. Not only did UK have one of its worst shooting games of the season — it finished at 40.3% (25 for 62); only its performance in an 89-84 loss to then-No. 1 Kansas on Nov. 14 was worse, when Kentucky made just 32.9% (25 for 76) of its attempts — but where the misses occurred that boggled the mind.
Per the official stats, the Wildcats converted only 38.1% (8 for 21) of their layups. That was better than the Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2) performed at the rim — they made 7 of their 19 layups (36.8%). But USC threw down five dunks to Kentucky’s one.
And when it wasn’t slamming the ball home, South Carolina was content to sink UK from long range. The Gamecocks knocked down 11 3-pointers in the 17-point win, nearly triple the Wildcats’ total (four).
Kentucky entered Tuesday as the most lethal offense in the country, averaging 91.6 points per outing, reaching 70 points in all 16 games and 80 in all but one. South Carolina, on the other hand, was the SEC’s most stingy defense (64.6 points per game) and hadn’t allowed an opponent to eclipse 80 points this season.
Something had to give.
The Wildcats gave.
Tuesday’s lopsided loss added to UK coach John Calipari’s misery in Columbia. He fell to 5-5 in road games against the Gamecocks.
Ta'Lon Cooper tied his career best with 20 points and Jacobi Wright added 14 with four 3-pointers as the Gamecocks beat their highest ranked opponent since toppling undefeated No. 1 Kentucky at home 68-62 in 2010.
In that game, South Carolina overcame future NBA All-Stars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins for the victory.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: South Carolina men's basketball stuns Kentucky in lopsided 79-62 victory
