James Reese V scored a season-high 19 points as South Carolina rallied in the second half to defeat Vanderbilt 70-61 on Wednesday night in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (12-7, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) won their second straight and followed up their 17-point win over Georgia on Saturday by outscoring Vanderbilt 44-31 after halftime.
Reese went 8-for-12 as South Carolina shot 44.3 percent and beat Vanderbilt for the fifth straight time at home by outscoring the Commodores (10-9, 2-4) 31-14 in the final 11:22.
Jermaine Cousinard scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime, and Erik Stevenson contributed 13 points and five rebounds to help South Carolina to a 41-29 edge on the glass. The Gamecocks grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points.
Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 points to lead all scorers but was held to two in the final 11-plus minutes. He was 8-for-17 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and had five assists. But Pippen had little help offensively, as Rodney Chatman sat out for the sixth straight game with a hamstring injury. The Commodores lost for the fifth time in six games since Chatman helped them get a one-point win at Arkansas.
Jordan Wright scored 10 points but was the only other Vanderbilt to reach double figures. The Commodores shot 44.7 percent and committed 16 turnovers, seven by Pippen.
Pippen scored 14 points as Vanderbilt forced 10 turnovers and held a 30-26 halftime lead. He scored eight more points as Vanderbilt opened a 47-39 lead on a free throw by Quentin Millora-Brown with 11:22 remaining, but the Gamecocks ran off 11 straight points and regained the lead when Stevenson’s 3-pointer made it 50-47 with 8:38 remaining.
After Wright’s 3-pointer tied the game at 50-50, the Gamecocks scored the next seven points, taking a 57-50 lead on a jumper by Wildens Leveque with 6:35 left. They went ahead 67-58 lead when A.J. Wilson rebounded a missed free throw by Couisnard and delivered a thunderous dunk with 2:45 remaining.
–Field Level Media
