By Kenneth Cross
NASHVILLE – In the SEC, we had the bottom four seeds play two competitive and hard fought games as Ole Miss slid by South Carolina, 67-61, and LSU past Georgia, 72-67. The two teams advanced on Wednesday night as the Rebels used five three-point field goals from Amaree Abram to propel them to the win over the Gamecocks.
GG Jackson brought South Carolina back from a 44-36 deficit as he and Meechie Johnson scored five points each in a 10-0 South Carolina run. Jackson scored on a layup off a pass from Johnson that gave Gamecocks a 46-44 advantage with 10:21 remaining.
From there, Abram made three triples and a jumper from the left top of the key which gave Ole Miss a 61-52 lead with 4:12 to play.
The Rebs had a 41-31 advantage on the boards and outscored South Carolina, 22-3, from the bench.
“We know that he can put the ball in the basket,” said Ole Miss interim head coach Win Case of Abram. “Earlier in the year, he was just a man amongst boys. We knew if he was locked in, he was going to have performance like that and he did.”
LSU survived Georgia as they took the lead early and were able to overtake the Bulldogs in the clutch for that 72-67 victory.
LSU built a 42-30 halftime lead behind the play of Trae Hannibal and Adam Miller from the backcourt. However, Georgia fought back in the second half behind Jabril Abdur-Rahim as he had five points that cut LSU’s lead back to 50-45 with 12 minutes remaining.
Rahim hit a three with 4:45 to play that even the game at 57-57; however, after Georgia’s Justin Hill gave the Bulldogs their last lead at 61-59, LSU guard Adam Miller made a three off the right wing and was fouled by Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe. LSU netted a 63-61 advantage as the Tigers scored 25 points off 18 offensive rebounds.
Shawn Phillips, Jr., scored on a one-handed dunk on a rebound from the right side before KJ WIlliams scored on a hook off a dribble to seal the win for the Tigers.
Williams led the Tigers with 18 points while Hannibal finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Justin Hill and Braelen Bridges led five Tigers in double figures with 13 points each.
“I was really proud of how our guys responded,” said LSU head coach Matt McMahon. “As we know, we have had some 10-12 point leads where we have not been able to sustain it and pick up the win.: