Dailyn Swain collected team highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Texas defeat South Carolina 84-75 on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (14-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) led by four points at halftime before South Carolina twice leapfrogged to the front — the latest on Elijah Strong’s layoup with 14:32 left in the game. Texas went back up 50-46 before a jumper by the Gamecocks’ Meechie Johnson tied the game with 11:23 remaining.
Camden Heide’s 3-pointer on the ensuing possession put Texas back in the lead and the Longhorns slowly pulled away, building the margin to 11 points in the waning seconds while never allowing the Gamecocks closer than two points. The Longhorns finished the game by hitting five of their last six shots from the floor.
Tramon Mark added 18 points for Texas while Matas Vokietaitis and Heide had 12 each. The Longhorns earned a 40-25 edge on the glass and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
Johnson, a senior guard, scored a career-high 35 points for the Gamecocks (11-12, 2-8) and Strong added 12.
The Gamecocks built a 16-7 lead after a Strong putback layup with 12:32 to play in the first half. Texas responded with an 8-0 run, capped by Mark’s 3-pointer at the 10:49 mark, to cull its deficit to a point.
Swain’s jumper with 6:20 to play until halftime tied the contest 23-23 before Strong and Johnson each canned a pair of free throws to put South Carolina back on top by four. The Longhorns went in front at 28-27 after Lassina Traore’s two made shots from the charity stripe and, after a change of leads, expanded their advantage to four point after two more free throws by Traore, these with 2:03 left.
Johnson and Heide traded baskets over the final 1:14 of the half, allowing the Longhorns a 35-31 advantage at the break.
Johnson paced all scorers with 15 points by halftime. Vokietaitis led Texas with eight points over the first 20 minutes of play and Swain had seven as the Longhorns shot just 30.8% (8 of 26) from the field, compared to 44% (11 of 25) for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina took a 42-41 lead when Eli Ellis canned a 3-pointer with 15:05 to play. The lead changed hands three tims, with Texas eventually going up by four on two Swain free throws with 13:24 left.
The Gamecocks shot 55.2% in the second half (16 of 29), but only 1-for-7 from 3-point range, and they made 11 of 16 free throws. The Longhorns kept pace by making 16 of 30 in the second half (55.3%), including 3 of 7 from distance. Texas was 14 of 15 at the foul line.
–Field Level Media
