COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 33 points on 12-for-18 shooting and South Carolina rallied to beat LSU 77-75 on Saturday for its third straight win.
Keyshawn Bryant made two foul shots with 1:51 left to give South Carolina a 74-73 lead. Erik Stevenson’s layup 13 seconds later – off an LSU turnover – padded the lead before Eric Gaines sank two foul shots to get LSU back within a point with 34 seconds to go.
Devin Carter missed two free throws at 19 seconds, but Darius Days missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining after an LSU timeout. Bryant grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made 1 of 2 from the line for South Carolina with 1.5 seconds left. LSU never got off a shot as time expired.
Trailing 58-47 with 13:16 remaining, South Carolina went on a 21-9 run in a little more than five minutes to capture a 68-67 lead for its first since Bryant’s opening jump shot.
Stevenson scored 15 and Carter had 10 off the bench for the Gamecocks. Despite missing 19 of 27 3-pointers, South Carolina (16-10, 7-7 SEC) was 18 of 24 inside the arc and finished 26 for 51 (51%) overall.
LSU (19-8, 7-7), which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end, travels to play fourth-ranked Kentucky on Wednesday. The Gamecocks host Mississippi State on Wednesday.