By Bill Trocchi
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – This time, Mario Moore’s last gasp three-pointer was not true, and Vanderbilt walked off the Memorial Gym floor as losers.
South Carolina’s Tre Kelley hit a driving layup with 3.6 seconds remaining to lift the Gamecocks to a 66-64 overtime victory over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.
Vanderbilt saw a 59-52 lead evaporate in the final three minutes of regulation and lost to South Carolina at home for the eighth time in the last 10 meetings.
“It’s a long season, but that was one that obviously shouldn’t have gotten away from us,” said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. “But you have to execute, and you have to make free throws and you have to take care of the ball and make lay-ups and you have to defend.”
Vanderbilt missed four free throws in the final minute, including the front end of two one-and-ones to let South Carolina have a chance at a comeback.
“That was all we needed was a cracked door,” said Kelley, who scored a career-high 29 points. “Those guys missed some free throws and that gave us a couple of opportunities and we capitalized. We fought back.”
In overtime, Vanderbilt’s offensive drought continued as the Dores came up empty on their first four possessions. Between the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime, Vanderbilt went scoreless for a staggering 8:49.
“There are a lot of things we have to do better on,” said Shan Foster, who scored 17 points and hit five threes but missed one of those one-and-one opportunities. “I’m hard on myself over missing open shots and free throws. That was a hard pill to swallow.”
After Kelley’s hoop, Moore launched a running three-pointer at the buzzer. Unlike the Oregon game, however, there was no Memorial Magic for Moore.
South Carolina sent the game into overtime with a three-pointer with eight seconds left. Derrick Byars missed a 17-footer at the end of regulation on Vanderbilt’s last possession.
Moore finished with 12 points while DeMarre Carroll and Julian Terrell had 10 points each.
Foster gave Vanderbilt a 28-17 halftime lead with a buzzer-beating fallaway three-pointer, but South Carolina erased that deficit quickly early in the second half.
“Maybe we came out and let our guard down,” Moore said. “They got off to a great start in the second half and that hurt us.”
Vanderbilt (11-4, 2-2) has now lost two straight SEC games after winning at Rupp Arena against two teams that had yet to win a conference game. Mississippi State awaits at Memorial on Saturday.
“I think our team has the character to bounce back from two losses against a great team on Saturday,” Moore said.
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