Booker's late 3s power South Carolina to 61-53 win over Dogs

ATHENS, Ga. -- South Carolina made only six second-half shots from the field while struggling with its worst shooting of the season.

The good news for the Gamecocks is two of those shots were important late 3-pointers by Frank Booker.

Booker scored 17 and South Carolina withstood Georgia's strong second-half start to beat the Bulldogs 64-57 on Saturday.

South Carolina (11-6, 2/3 Southeastern Conference) overcame a season-low 27.1 percent shooting from the field. Chris Silva scored 14 points and Hassani Gravett had 11 as the Gamecocks took their first SEC road win.

A short jumper by Georgia's Yante Maten provided the last tie at 49-all. Booker answered with a quick 3-pointer to yank momentum back from the Bulldogs.

"They had some momentum," Booker said. "They tied the game back up and had their crowd back into it. That 3 kind of deflated their crowd and helped us get a little more energy and momentum on defense."

Booker sank another 3 with 1:22 remaining.

The Gamecocks outrebounded Georgia, 46-42, and had fewer turnovers, 14-7, to help make up for their poor shooting.

"To me, I call it South Carolina basketball," Silva said. "We were not shooting well but we rely on defense and being aggressive."

There were three ties but Georgia (11-5, 2-3) never led while suffering its first home loss of the season after eight wins. It was the Bulldogs' second straight loss.

Maten led the Bulldogs with 25 points but had too little scoring help, especially from Georgia's other frontline starters. Derek Ogbeide and freshman Rayshaun Hammonds combined for only three points.

Georgia made only 18 of 28 free throws.

"We anticipated it would be a slugfest and when you have a game like that you have to rebound and make free throws and we didn't do that," said Georgia coach Mark Fox.

Powered by two early 3-pointers from Evan Hinson, South Carolina took a 9-2 lead.

Georgia pulled even with a 10-2 run to open the second half. Juwan Parker, who had 11 points, was fouled while making a baseline jumper. Parker's free throw left the score 39-all, the first tie since 2-2.

The Gamecocks regrouped to prevent Georgia from taking the lead. A 3-pointer by Gravett and a basket by Justin Manaya gave South Carolina a 49-43 advantage.

BIG PICTURE

South Carolina: The Gamecocks made an impressive recovery from a 76-62 loss at Alabama on Tuesday night. It was their second straight win in Athens. They won 67-61 at Georgia last season. ... The two early 3s by Hinson and eight points in the first half set career high for a game. He was averaging only 2.7 points per game and had never made more than one 3-pointer in a game. He finished with eight points. ... The Gamecocks made 26 of 35 free throws, helping to compensate for the poor field-goal shooting.

Georgia: The Bulldogs' two straight losses have put them behind in the SEC race and in their hopes to show they deserve a spot in the NCAA tournament. They were hurt by the lack of scoring balance, especially on the front line. The Gamecocks shut down Ogbeide and Hammonds in the first 20 minutes. Each missed his only shot from the field in the half and was scoreless.

COLLISION COURSE

About midway through the second half, Maten crashed into Fox while chasing a loose ball. Fox was knocked back on the sideline, leaving his legs sticking straight up in the air, but he was not hurt and slapped Maten on the back while sending the senior back onto the court.

BIG CHEER

Georgia fans cheered loudly when football coach Kirby Smart was shown on the video board watching the game from the stands with one of his children. It was the first home basketball game for the Bulldogs since the football team's loss to Alabama in the national championship game on Monday night.

UP NEXT

South Carolina: Hosts No. 21 Kentucky on Tuesday night.

Georgia: At Louisiana State on Tuesday night.

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