Devan Downey scored 23 points and South Carolina protected its NCAA tournament hopes by pulling away in the second half to beat Georgia 68-51 on Saturday.

Mike Holmes’s tip-in at the buzzer lifted South Carolina to a 75-73 win over Alabama on Saturday.

At 5-foot-9, it’s rare when Devan Downey’s not the smallest player on the court. It’s just as rare, though, when South Carolina’s star junior hasn’t bested opponents with his speed and skill.

The Gamecocks kept all their early commitments and picked up a few surprises Wednesday, with 29 players signing letters of intent to wrap up coach Steve Spurrier’s second well-regarded class in three years.

South Carolina’s Devan Downey was named the SEC Player of the Week after averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 steals in leading the Gamecocks to wins over Vanderbilt and at Kentucky.

Devan Downey’s turnaround jumper with 3 seconds left lifted South Carolina to a 78-77 victory over No. 24 Kentucky on Saturday, the Gamecocks’ second victory in 23 games in Lexington.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings didn’t have to think too hard to pinpoint why the Commodores lost this one. Stallings watched, often in awe, as South Carolina guard Devan Downey almost single-handedly changed the game’s momentum and its outcome in the Gamecocks 86-76 victory on Wednesday night.

Demetress Adams’ career at South Carolina is over. The South Carolina senior injured her knee in Thursday’s win over Ole Miss.

No. 24 Florida’s return to the national rankings probably won’t last long. Zam Fredrick and South Carolina saw to that. Fredrick’s layup as time expired lifted the Gamecocks to a 70-69 victory on Wednesday night, ending the Gators’ 10-game win streak.

The game was tied at 63 with 1:35 to play after a 3-pointer from the left corner by South Carolina’s Lakeisha Sutton. But Georgia (10-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied to a 69-63 win over South Carolina (8-7, 0-2) on Sunday.

It was a shaky win for No. 9 Auburn, but coach Nell Fortner will gladly take it. The Tigers (16-0, 1-0 Southeastern) turned the ball over 21 times and could never quite put South Carolina away in an 80-76 win Thursday night.

Iowa will enter the Outback Bowl against South Carolina tomorrow ranked tenth against the run in the country. A big reason why, they go against the nations top rusher day in and day out in Shonn Greene.

Devan Downey scored 23 points and South Carolina routed winless North Carolina Central 90-43 on Tuesday night. With the game tied at 8, the Gamecocks used a 23-2 run to take an insurmountable lead.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)—South Carolina will face Iowa in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day in the first-ever meeting of the two schools.

Devan Downey scored a game-high 19 points to lead South Carolina to a 72-48 win against Furman on Friday night.