COLUMBIA, S.C. — Eric Smith scored 12 points including the game-winning three-pointer with 25.1 seconds left as South Carolina upset Mississippi 63-62 on Wednesday night.
The Rebels (19-7, 8-5) led 62-56 with five minutes to go but missed their last seven shots in a devastating loss for their NCAA Tournament hopes. Ole Miss has lost five of its last seven games since starting the season 17-2.
South Carolina (13-13, 3-10), which began the night tied for last place in the SEC with Mississippi State, broke a six-game losing streak.
Ole Miss had two chances to win at the end, but Lakeem Jackson blocked Nick Williams’ layup with 0.9 seconds left and Marshall Henderson’s desperation three-pointer was blocked by Laimonas Chatkevicius.
Michael Carrera led South Carolina with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Murphy Holloway, playing against the team he transferred to before heading back to Mississippi, led the Rebels with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Henderson, the SEC’s leading scorer at 19.7 points a game, scored 11 points, shooting just 4 of 17 from the field and making just three of his 11 three-point attempts.
South Carolina took its biggest lead of the game, 54-49, with 9:42 left, but the Rebels went on a 13-2 run and took a 62-56 lead with 5:04 left on a basket by Holloway.
Mississippi wouldn’t score again.
Reginald Buckner fouled out with 3:39 left for Ole Miss, and Jackson hit 1 of 2 free throws. Brenton Williams hita three-pointer with 2:09 left to cut the Rebels’ lead to two.
Henderson missed a three-pointer with just under a minute to go and Williams saved an errant pass. Bruce Ellington missed a layup on the drive, but the rebound was kicked out to Smith, who buried the winning three-pointer with 25.1 left.
Henderson got a good look from behind the arc on Ole Miss’ next possession but missed. Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 8.4 seconds left, but Mississippi didn’t get its last two shots to the rim.
Mississippi is now in danger of falling out of the top four in the SEC, who all get byes to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament - a tournament the Rebels may now have to win to make their first NCAA Tournament in 11 years.
KENTUCKY 74, VANDERBILT 70
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Willie Cauley-Stein scored 20 points, and his two crucial blocks and key rebound in the final 34 seconds helped Kentucky outlast Vanderbilt for its first victory without injured star center Nerlens Noel.
Cauley-Stein, a 7-foot freshman manning the post for Kentucky (18-8, 9-4) with Noel sidelined, blocked attempts by Kyle Fuller and Kedren Johnson 9 seconds apart before grabbing Johnson’s missed three-pointer with 17 seconds left and drawing a foul.
Cauley-Stein made 1 of 2 free throws for 74-67 lead that offset Sheldon Moats’ 3 for Vanderbilt (10-15, 4-9) with 3 seconds remaining. Cauley-Stein finished 8 of 10 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds to provide Kentucky a sorelyneeded victory after the Wildcats were shellacked 88-58 Saturday at Tennessee in their first game since Noel sustained a season-ending left knee injury at Florida on Feb. 12.
Noel’s first public appearance since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament boosted the morale of the Wildcats, who had to withstand another Commodores rally.
Trailing 51-41 with 14:46 remaining, Vanderbilt’s 18-10 run over the next 10-plus minutes pulled the Commodores to within 61-59. Julius Mays answered with a three-pointer to give Kentucky a five-point lead before Cauley-Stein added a basket leading up to his defensive heroics.
Archie Goodwin (Sylvan Hills) added 16 points and Ryan Harrow 12 for the Wildcats.
Johnson had 17 points and Rod Odum 16 for Vanderbilt.
ALABAMA 64, MISSISSIPPI STATE 56
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Rodney Cooper had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Trevor Releford scored 17 to lift streaking Alabama to a victory over Mississippi State.
The Crimson Tide (18-8, 10-3) finished a lackluster second half strong to claim its fourth consecutive victory. Alabama also closed the gap on SEC-leading Florida (11-2) after the fifth-ranked Gators lost to Missouri on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (7-18, 2-11) cut a 13-point second-half deficit to four points before losing their 11th consecutive game to match the 1982 team for the second-longest skid in program history.
Cooper was 7-of-10 shooting. Releford had five assists and five steals. Alabama’s Trevor Lacey had 11 points before fouling out.
Jalen Steele returned from a threegame suspension for violating team rules to fuel the comeback attempt and score 15 points. Colin Borchert had 14 points and nine rebounds for Mississippi State, which committed 23 turnovers.
TEXAS A&M 65, AUBURN 56
AUBURN, Ala. - Elston Turner scored 21 points and Alex Caruso added another 14 points in Texas A&M’s comefrom-behind victory over Auburn.
Auburn opened the game with a 12-0 run through the first six minutes of play, but Texas A&M (16-10, 6-7) fought back to cut the Tigers’ lead to 31-29 by halftime. The Aggies closed the game on a 12-5 run over the final five minutes to pull away.
The Aggies outshot Auburn from the field, finishing 22 of 50, while the Tigers made 21 of 56 shots.
Allen Payne led Auburn (9-17, 3-10) with 11 points.
Texas A&M shot 11 of 30 from the field in the first half before turning things around and shooting 11 of 20 in the second half. Auburn’s shooting dropped off from 13 of 26 in the first half to 8 of 30 in the second.
TOP 25 ROUNDUP
James Southerland scored 20 points, Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points and 12 assists, and No. 8 Syracuse (22-4, 10-3 Big East) beat visiting Providence (14-12, 6-8) 84-59. ... D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored a career-high 33 points - the most by any Georgetown player this season - and the No. 11 Hoyas moved back into a tie for first place in the Big East with a 90-66 victory over DePaul. Smith-Rivera went 10 for 12 from the field, 8 for 10 from the free-throw line and made 5 of 6 three-pointers, scoring the most points by a Georgetown freshman in John Thompson III’s nine seasons as coach. Nate Lubick added 15 points, and Jabril Trawick had 13 as the Hoyas pulled away with a 15-4 run at the end of the half. ... Deshaun Thomas overcame a slow start to score 19 points and No. 18 Ohio State(19-7, 9-5 Big Ten) used a 16-0 second-half run to beat visiting Minnesota (18-9, 6-8) 71-45. Shannon Scott added 11 points and LaQuinton Ross 10 for the Buckeyes, who have won the past six meetings with the Golden Gophers overall and the past six in Columbus, Ohio.
Sports, Pages 20 on 02/21/2013