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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zachary Davis scored on a layup with three seconds remaining to give No. 18 South Carolina a 70-68 victory over Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
Meechie Johnson took an inbounds pass with less than 10 seconds remaining and drove down the lane before dishing off to Davis, who banked in a layup for the lead.
“We had good pace as we brought the ball up the floor,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “We had such good pace, I was just going to let it play out.”
Texas A&M had a chance to send it to overtime, but Wade Taylor IV tripped and lost the ball getting it past half court, sealing the South Carolina win.
“March is upon us, so you’re going to get a lot of games where this is the atmosphere,” Paris said. “This is the environment, this is the level of determination that teams are going to exhibit.”
Johnson scored 22 points as South Carolina (23-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) won its second straight game after losing two in a row. Davis finished with 16 points.
Tyrece Radford led the Aggies (15-13, 6-9) with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Taylor added 15 points.
South Carolina led by seven points before the Aggies used a 7-2 spurt, with five points from Manny Obaseki, to cut the lead to 68-66 with just more than a minute to go.
Ta’lon Cooper missed a free throw for the Gamecocks before A&M tied it at 68 on a driving layup by Taylor with nine seconds left.
Texas A&M continued its recent freefall, extending its season-worst skid to five games. The Aggies haven’t won since beating then-No. 6 Tennessee on Feb. 10.
Aggies’ coach Buzz Williams said he gave each of his players a hug after the game.
“I told them, ‘let’s keep fighting and see what happens,’” he said. “There’s not an easy answer when you’ve lost five in a row.”
The Aggies trailed by 13 points before scoring the next 10 points to cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 46-43 midway through the second half.
B.J. Mack made one of two free throws for South Carolina, but Texas A&M scored the next seven points, capped by a 3-pointer by Solomon Washington, to take a 50-47 lead with 8½ minutes remaining.
The Gamecocks missed seven consecutive shots and went more than six minutes without a field goal, allowing Texas A&M to move ahead.
Texas A&M had a two-point lead after two free throws by Taylor before South Carolina used a 9-0 run to take a 66-59 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left. Johnson led the way in that stretch, grabbing a steal and finishing with a layup at the other end before making a three-point play on the next possession.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: Things don’t get any easier for the Gamecocks after they escaped with the victory over the Aggies. Two of their last three regular-season games are against ranked opponents.
“It seems like every game gets tougher and tougher and it seems like there’s more on the line each time out,” Paris said.
Texas A&M: The Aggies are unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament after this disappointing stretch, but a strong finish to the regular-season could help their chances.
MIXING IT UP
Williams donned a track suit at the game Wednesday. He said it was the first time in his coaching career that he hadn’t worn a suit while coaching a game.
“I was just trying to change my attire to see if it would spark anything,” the Texas A&M coach said.
UP NEXT
South Carolina: Hosts No. 24 Florida on Saturday.
Texas A&M: Visits Georgia on Saturday.
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