Skid reaches five as A&M suffers 70-68 home loss to South Carolina
South Carolina’s Zachary Davis hit a layup with three seconds remaining to deal Texas A&M a 70-68 Southeastern Conference basketball loss on Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
Unable to get off a final rushed shot, the Aggies (15-13, 6-9) suffered their fifth consecutive loss.
A&M trailed by seven with just 2:04 left but pulled within 68-66 on a Manny Obaseki.
The No. 18 Gamecocks (23-5, 11-4) then missed two shots and a free throw on its final next possession.
Wade Taylor IV capitalized with a swooping layup to forge a tie with nine seconds left.
However, the Gamecocks quickly responded with the winning layup.
Taylor lost control of the basketball as he tried to rush downcourt for a final shot. It put an end to what was largely a frustrating evening as A&M converted just 2-of-16 attempts from 3-point range.
Still, Tyrece Radford led A&M with 19 points, while Taylor had 15.
Meechie Johnson scored 22 to lead South Carolina.
A&M’s errant 3-point shooting was especially problematic in the first half when the Aggies missed all 10 attempts behind the arc.
A&M trailed by seven points, 32-25, with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.
However, the Aggies prevented South Carolina from increasing its lead by forcing three turnovers and denying the Gamecocks another basket.
Meanwhile, Henry Coleman III scored a baseline layup, and Taylor swished a runner to bring the Aggies within 32-29 at halftime.
The Aggies could have had the lead had any success from behind the 3-point line.
One of the nation’s most inaccurate teams from 3-point range, A&M was 0-for-10 from long range.
Instead of counting their misses the Aggies should have been counting their blessings.
While A&M hit just nine of 30 shots (30 percent), South Carolina shot 52.2 percent (12 of 23) from the field. That included four 3-point goals.
A&M countered with six second-chance points and 11 points from the foul line.
South Carolina opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 41-31 lead and built as much as a 13-point lead.
However, the Aggies fought back with a 17-1 run to take a 50-47 lead on a Solomon Washington 3-pointer with 8:31 left.
The Aggies maintained a 59-57 lead with five minutes remaining but could not close out the upset.