Dylan Cardwell converted the go-ahead dunk with 1:32 remaining as No. 2 Auburn withstood an ankle injury to star Johni Broome and escaped with a 66-63 victory over South Carolina Saturday afternoon in Columbia, S.C.
The Tigers (15-1, 3-0 SEC) won their eighth straight after Broome injured his left ankle defending a shot under the rim with 13:45 remaining. Broome scored six points on 3-of-11 shooting in 24 minutes before getting hurt when he stepped on teammate Chaney Johnson’s foot defending a basket by Collin Murray-Boyles that gave the Gamecocks a 47-45 lead.
On the SEC network postgame telecast Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Broome has a “significant sprain” and will be getting tests to determine the severity.
Cardwell only scored six points but gave the Tigers a 64-63 lead when he got a pass from Tahaad Pettiford and converted the open dunk. The score marked the game’s first points since a basket by Zachary Davis gave the Gamecocks a 63-62 lead with 5:12 remaining.
After Cardwell’s clutch hoop, he fouled Nick Pringle. A 68 percent foul shooter entering the game, Pringle missed both with 29 seconds left and Pettiford capped a 15-point outing by easily hitting two free throws with four seconds left.
Following timeouts by both teams, South Carolina (10-6, 0-3) had a chance at forcing overtime, but Morris Ugusuk missed a 3 from the left side with two seconds remaining.
Miles Kelly added 14 for the Tigers, who trailed by nine in the first half and shot 45.6 percent.
Murray-Boyles led all scorers with 25 points, including 18 in South Carolina’s big first half. Arden Conyers – who saw increased action for a second straight game in the absence of Myles Stute (leg) — added 13, and Pringle finished with 12 as the Gamecocks shot 41 percent and played without Jamarii Thomas, who is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with a knee sprain.
Conyers hit a 3 with 8:03 left and sank two free throws with 6 1/2 minutes left as the Gamecocks scored 10 straight for a 29-25 lead. The run expanded to 16-2 when Murray-Boyles hit his second straight layup with about 2 1/2 minutes left for a 35-27 lead.
Conyers countered a basket by Broome with a 3 that made it 38-27 about a minute later and South Carolina held a 40-34 lead by halftime.
–Field Level Media
