COLUMBIA (AP) – Sindarius Thornwell scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and No. 24 South Carolina’s defense smothered high-scoring No. 19 Florida much of the way for a 57-53 victory Wednesday night.
The Gamecocks (15-3, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) opened the second half with a 14-2 run and held on down the stretch when the Gators (15-4, 5-1) drew within 54-53 on Chris Chiozza’s free throws shots with 40.3 seconds to go. PJ Dozier drove for South Carolina’s final basket and Florida fumbled it out of bounds on its next possession.
Leading scorer KeVaughn Allen had one point for Florida while Kasey Hill scored all 11 of his in the opening half before fouling out. Canyon Barry led the Gators with 13 points.
Florida went 0 of 17 from 3-point range, ending a streak of 850 consecutive games with a long-range basket that was the longest in the NCAA. The Gators last went 0-from-behind the arc in an 80-61 loss to Kentucky in 1992.
