FINAL: South Carolina Wins Back-&-Forth Affair Over No. 24 Florida

South Carolina's men's basketball team earned a hard-fought win over the Florida Gators, remaining alive in the SEC regular season title race.

Coming into the day just one game back of first place in the SEC, South Carolina's men's basketball team went into their matchup against the Florida Gators looking to remain in the regular season title race and secure their third Top 25 win of the season. While finding themselves in multiple tough situations, Lamont Paris' team used a late second half surge to secure an 82-76 victory.

In the first eight minutes of this SEC bout, both the Gamecocks and the Gators traded blows in the form of mini-runs. After both teams started the game on their own 4-0 runs, Jacobi Wright would come out of the first media timeout on fire, hitting two-straight 3-point shots and then later, in what wound up being an 8-2 run, would finishing through contact on a drive to opposite baseline.

However, the Gators would respond with a run on their own around the second media timeout, going on a 14-0 run from the 12:45 mark to the 7:26 mark, finding lapses in weakside rotations and sending Carolina into a constant scramble drill, something we haven't seen happen often with a Lamont Paris-led team this season. The run played a significant role in South Carolina's six-point halftime deficit.

At the start of the second half, both teams once again were in an intense back-and-forth affair, but everytime the momentum seemed to be swinging back into the Gamecocks favor, Nick Clayton Jr. seem to hit a back-breaking three-point shot. Carolina also were unable to prevent Gator guard Zyon Pullin from getting two feet into the paint, getting called for fouls in their attempt to stay in front of the athletic two-guard.

However, the Gamecocks wouldn't back down, and down the third media timeout at the 8:00 mark, would switch to a 1-3-1 zone, which turned the tide of the game, as Florida's guards became extremely hesitant, and looked confused as to where to go with the basketball. On the other end, Carolina would also begin to attack the basket at a much higher rate, and through the physical play of Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles, drew more fouls and turned the battle in the paint toward the Gamecocks' favor.

After a Clayton three tied the game at 68 with 1:15 left in the contest, Meechie Johnson, who wound up with well over 20 points, would hit a three-point from the top wing with 46 seconds left; a subsequent defensive stop and two Murray-Boyles free throws would seal it for Lamont Paris and South Carolina, who will play Tennessee next Wednesday night.

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