Nijel Pack’s hot shooting paces Oklahoma past South Carolina
Nijel Pack scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers to help lead Oklahoma to an 86-74 victory over South Carolina in Wednesday's first-round game of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville.
Derrion Reid added 20 points for 11th-seeded Oklahoma (18-14), which kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Tae Davis scored 18 points for the Sooners, who won their fifth straight game and will advance to face sixth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday night. Xzayvier Brown finished with 14 points in the win.
Kobe Knox led 14th-seeded South Carolina (13-19) with 20 points, followed by Mike Sharavjamts' 19 points and eight rebounds. Meechie Johnson chipped in 14 points for the Gamecocks, who held a 13-point first-half lead.
After battling back to tie the score at halftime, Oklahoma opened the second half on a 9-2 run thanks to a pair of Pack 3-pointers. Reid's three-point play and subsequent dunk gave the Sooners a 56-47 lead with 15:20 remaining.
South Carolina got within five on Johnson's 3-pointer at the 10:52 mark, before Brown's triple gave Oklahoma a 70-60 edge with 7:53 left. The margin then ballooned to 16 on Davis' layup.
Brown's triple put the Sooners ahead 81-64 with four minutes remaining, cementing the rally.
South Carolina jumped out to a 21-13 lead, before the margin grew to 10 on Knox's 3-pointer with 9:52 left in the first half. After Pack's and Davis' baskets, Sharavjamts' 3-pointers bookended a 7-0 run to give the Gamecocks a 36-23 lead.
Knox drilled South Carolina's eighth 3-pointer of the opening half with 5:24 left, before Jadon Jones' dunk stamped a 6-0 run to pull the Sooners within three.
Reid's three-point play and Jones' layup ended the first half and tied the score at 42 apiece. Davis led all scorers with 15 first-half points.