Ta'Lon Cooper leads South Carolina to rout of No. 6 Kentucky

Field Level Media|published: Tue 23rd January, 21:33 2024

Jan 23, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Meechie Johnson (5) drives between Kentucky Wildcats forward Tre Mitchell (4) and forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. credits: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Graduate guard Ta'Lon Cooper matched his career high with 20 points as South Carolina stunned No. 6 Kentucky 79-62 Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play Tuesday night in Columbia, S.C.

Cooper shot 8 of 11 from the field as the Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2 SEC) hit 48.3 percent from the field while handing the Wildcats their first double-figure loss since Feb. 7, 2023, when they fell 88-73 to Arkansas.

South Carolina's Meechie Johnson and Jacobi Wright added 14 points each.

Rob Dillingham led Kentucky (14-4-2 SEC) with 16 points, including 11 in the first half. Antonio Reeves had 15 points and Tre Mitchell 13 for the Wildcats, who shot only 40.3 percent from the field.

The Gamecocks have their first two-game winning streak in the series since they won three in a row over the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The won last year's matchup 71-68 in Lexington, Ky.

After holding the Wildcats to their lowest-scoring half of the season in the first 20 minutes, the Gamecocks needed just over 12 minutes of the second period to more than double their eight-point halftime advantage to 62-44.

Their largest lead came less than two minutes later when Collin Murray-Boyles converted a layup for a 66-46 South Carolina cushion. The closest the Wildcats were able to come after that was 14 points twice in the last three minutes.

Each team had issues in the first half that ended with South Carolina up 33-25 after Zachary Davis' 3-pointer with two seconds left.

The Wildcats struggled with their shooting late in the half, enduring a 2-of-14 slump to end the period 11-for-32 (34.4 percent). Dillingham was Kentucky's only effective shooter prior to the break, going 5-for-8 from the field for 11 points while the rest of the team was a combined 6-for-24 (25 percent).

The Gamecocks didn't shoot a whole lot better, going 13-for-31 (41.9 percent), but their main concern was ballhandling.

They committed three turnovers in the first six minutes and ended the first half with seven, just 3 1/2 short of their per-game average for the season. But they still managed to lead at the break after closing out the period on a 10-2 spurt.

South Carolina gave the ball away just twice in the second half.

—Field Level Media