COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ta’Lon Cooper scored 20 points and Jacobi Wright had 14 with four 3-pointers as South Carolina pulled away in the second half and beat No. 6 Kentucky 79-62 on Tuesday night.
The Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) beat their highest-ranked opponent at home since taking down No. 1 Kentucky 68-62 14 years ago. In that game, South Carolina overcame future NBA All-Stars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins for the victory.
In this one, they held the nation’s top scoring team that averaged more than 91 points to its lowest output of the season.
Fans easily burst through the thin yellow ropes to rush the court and celebrate the latest high point in surprising season. It should cost South Carolina a $100,000 fine from the SEC under league policy, but no one was concerned about that at the moment.
It’s the third straight loss at South Carolina for the Wildcats (14-4, 4-2) and fourth in their last seven meetings in the series.
It sure didn’t look like the Wildcats would struggle in this one. Kentucky hit five straight shots on the way to a 21-16 lead midway through the opening period.
But South Carolina and its SEC-leading defense kicked in after that to close the period on a 17-4 run. It’s their second-largest win against Kentucky in series history, trailing only an 18-point victory in 2009, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It also marks their first back-to-back wins over Kentucky since winning three straight against the Wildcats from 2009-10.
The Wildcats missed nine of their final 10 shots of the period and were held to their lowest scoring half of the season.
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky’s leading scorer at 19.6 points a game, shook off a 1-for-7 shooting first half with seven points early after halftime and the Wildcats were within 40-38 with 15:04 to play.
But the Gamecocks took off again on a 22-6 run to open an 18-point lead with less than eight minutes left.
Kentucky could not get within single digits the rest of the way.
The sold-out crowd — Colonial Life Arena seats 18,000 — was encouraged to wear black. The fans, including football coach Shane Beamer, yelled and screamed as time ticked down on the victory.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.