South Carolina returned home Friday to host Jacksonville. Jacksonville (0-3) gave South Carolina (5-1) all it could handle, but senior point guard Devan Downey took over down the stretch to lead South Carolina to a 97-93 victory.
The Gamecocks played their first game without senior forward Dominique Archie, who is out indefinitely with a right knee sprain. Archie, the Gamecocks leading rebounder (6.0 rebounds per game) and second leading scorer (14.4 points per game) watched the game from behind the bench. He was on crutches, and wore sweatpants and a Gamecock letterman’s jacket.
Downey and Jacksonville point guard Ben Smith engaged in a fierce personal battle, going back and forth all game. Downey finished with 34 points, an assist, and two rebounds, while Smith, the Atlantic Sun Preseason Player of the year, had 31 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. It was the second highest scoring game of his career.
“I ain’t going to call it a battle because different people were guarding him, but Ben Smith’s a good player,” Downey said.
Smith helped put Jacksonville up 75-74 when he found Travis Cohn open on the wing for a three-pointer. On the other end, Jacksonville committed an unnecessary foul, and Downey made two free throws to put South Carolina back on top. The free throws seemed to spark Downey, who had 17 points at that time, scored 17 of South Carolina’s final 23 points.
“We needed [Downey] to [score] because we weren’t guarding anybody and he was a large part of it,” South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn said. “Smith got 31 so we needed 34 from him tonight. Obviously Devan is a guy that is capable of that and we made an adjustment late to get him off the ball and put him in scoring position.”
“I just wanted to do whatever it takes to win,” Downey said. “I felt like I had to step up.”
Both teams came out on fire and opened the game with a run. South Carolina used a 9-0 run to take an early 9-2 lead. South Carolina was ahead 15-7 when Jacksonville responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 15. Jacksonville took advantage of Archie’s absence inside to beat South Carolina on the glass early. That rebounding edge sparked Jacksonville’s run, but South Carolina was able to force turnovers to counteract the rebounding deficit. Turnovers spurred runs of 12-4 and 10-4 for South Carolina. The first run put South Carolina up 32-23, and the second run allowed South Carolina to stretch its lead to 12, at 49-37 following.
With the Gamecocks looking poised to pull away, the Dolphins mustered up a 6-0 run over the final 44 seconds of the first half. Smith started the run with a pair of free throws, and Ayron Hardy added a layup following a turnover. Downey missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Smith capped the run with a jumper at the buzzer to make it 49-43. The Gamecocks shot 60.0 percent from the field in the half, but could not take advantage of the hot shooting because the Dolphins shot 55.2 percent. The Dolphins finished with a 16-13 rebounding edge, but an 11-7 turnover deficit.
As well as the offenses played in the first half, none of that efficiency was present to start the second. The teams traded baskets and turnovers, and each side had as many turnovers as field goals (seven) over the first ten minutes of the half.
Jacksonville was successful at getting to the free throw line, and took advantage of its opportunities. Behind 9-10 shooting from the line, Jacksonville closed the gap, and with 5:46 to play, Smith kicked out to Cohn for a three pointer and a 75-74 lead. From there, Downey took over.
For the game, Jacksonville outrebounded South Carolina 35 to 30, and cut the turnover deficit to 21-17 by the end of the game. South Carolina continued to struggle dishing out assists, finishing with just five dimes, compared to 16 for Jacksonville. It was the second time this season South Carolina has had five assists or less. South Carolina made 21-30 (70.0 percent) free throws, including 9-10 down the stretch. South Carolina shot 57.4 percent from the floor, but allowed Jacksonville to shoot and even 50.0 percent.
“I am disappointed we didn’t guard at all, at any point,” Horn said. “We got a couple stops when we needed them. In the end, for us to make the plays we needed to to win the game, that’s good.”
Downey led four double figure scorers for the Gamecocks. Starting in place of Archie, Brandis Raley-Ross had 18 points. Forward Sam Muldrow had another effective offensive game, scoring 12 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks and, and two steals. Freshman guard Ramon Galloway came off the bench to score ten points.
The Dolphins also had four players in double figures. Cohn finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Tevin Galvin and Hardy both had ten points, and Hardy added seven boards. The Dolphins shot 24-27 from the charity stripe (88.9 percent).
The Gamecocks return to action next Wednesday against Western Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm.
