The Gamecocks are back in action at 7 p.m. in Colonial Life Arena on Wed., Nov. 21, against Elon.
Brooklyn, N.Y. -- The Georgia men's basketball team dropped its third game of the season Monday night, losing to No. 1 Indiana 66-53 in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
"It was a hard-fought game, a game we thought we could win," said head coach Mark Fox. "I thought the difference was our immaturity late in the second half. In the gut of the game, Indiana's experience showed and I give them credit for that. They're a terrific basketball team. I thought for 30 minutes we looked like the team that we all believe we have this season. The key is to learn how to play that way for 40 minutes, not 30. That's the next thing our team needs to learn."
Senior Vincent Williams and sophomore Kentavious Caldwell-Pope paced Georgia offensively with 14 points apiece. Sophomore Nemanja Djurisic led Georgia on the boards with seven rebounds.
Georgia, which led by as many as five during the first half, entered halftime with a 30-29 lead. Eight different Bulldogs scored in the first half and the team only committed five turnovers.
In the second half, Georgia led 38-34 when Indiana went on a 19-4 run, capped off by a baseline jumper from Indiana guard Victor Oladipo to put the Hoosiers up 51-42 with just eight minutes left in the game. Oladipo scored 11 of his team-leading 15 points in the second half.
Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls also each contributed 14 points each for the Hoosiers. Hulls was four of six from behind the arc with three coming during Indiana's second half run.
After Georgia's defense held Indiana's shooting to just 32 percent in the first half, the Hoosiers made nearly 60 percent of their shots in the second half.
Georgia concludes the Progressive Legends Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 20 against either Georgetown or No. 11 UCLA at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Short-Handed Mississippi State Falls to No. 11 UNC
MAUI, Hawaii - Mississippi State could not match the firepower of 11th-ranked North Carolina in men's basketball action Monday afternoon.
The Tar Heels converted 15 3-pointers and led from start to finish in a 95-49 victory in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
North Carolina scored the game's first nine points and was not threatened after that. UNC hit 11 of its first 12 shots from the field and finished the night shooting 47 percent from the field, including 46 percent from 3-point range.
"(North Carolina) made a bunch of big plays early," MSU assistant coach Chris Hollender said. "They went at us and we didn't respond. As the game went on, we responded better and competed a little bit better. We are short-handed, but I thought we competed hard in the second half."
North Carolina enjoyed three different first half runs of 9-0 or greater. A Wendell Lewis jumper brought the Maroon and White within 18-6 midway through the first half. The Tar Heels forced four turnovers during an 11-0 run.
After a dunk by Ware brought the Bulldogs within 43-17, North Carolina scored the first half's final six points. MSU shot 20 percent from the field in the game's opening half.
"We didn't get short shots to fall," Hollander said. "We got balls to the rim but the shots came up short. We had several players do a good job of getting the ball inside. We had chances but we couldn't get some shots to fall."
The Bulldogs did battle hard in the second half. MSU closed within 26 on a couple of occasions thanks to some strong offensive play by Roquez Johnson and Gavin Ware.
North Carolina answered with an 8-0 run to open a 59-25 advantage with 14:37 left in regulation.
For the contest, MSU hit 17 of 60 shots from the field (28.3 percent), 2 of 17 shots from 3-point range (11.8 percent) and 13 of 19 shots from the foul line (68.4 percent). North Carolina hit 37 of 78 shots from the field (47.4 percent), 15 of 32 shots from 3-point range (46.9 percent) and 6 of 9 shots from the foul line (66.7 percent).
North Carolina held a 47-43 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had six assists and 21 turnovers, while the Tar Heels had 22 assists and 12 turnovers.
Johnson paced the Bulldogs (1-2) with 12 points, while Lewis added 10 points. Ware had nine rebounds, while Johnson added seven and Lewis added six.
North Carolina (4-0) received 21 points from Leslie McDonald, who was 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Others in double figures included P.J. Hairston with 18 points, Reggie Bullock with 16 points, James Michael McAdoo with 10 points and Dexter Strickland with 10 points.
MSU will face Marquette at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in a second-round matchup. That contest will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Saint Louis Downs Texas A&M in CBE Classic Semifinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Texas A&M’s Dwayne Evans tied his career high by scoring 21 points and Mike McCall Jr. chipped in 13 more points for the Aggies, but it was not enough as A&M fell to Saint Louis Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic, 70-49.
Elston Turner dropped 16 points and Ray Turner added 10 for TAMU (3-1). Texas A&M committed 19 costly turnovers that resulted in 26 points, and Saint Louis shot over 50 percent from the field to boot.
The Billikens (2-1) were paced on the evening by Cory Remekin’s 13 points and Cody Ellis added 10 of his own. With the victory, Saint Louis will advance to face either Kansas or Washington State in Tuesday night’s championship game.