ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — 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.
South Carolina (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) snapped a two-game losing streak but may need more wins in next week's SEC tournament in Tampa to secure the NCAA bid under first-year coach Darrin Horn.
Zam Frederick scored 15 points while making 4 of 5 3-point attempts. Frederick hit a 3-pointer which capped a 10-0 run for a 48-32 advantage midway through the second half. Evaldas Baniulis had 11 points and Mike Holmes had 10 for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina also scored 10 straight points in the first half after Georgia held its last lead at 9-7.
Chris Barnes and Trey Thompkins each had 10 points for Georgia (12-19, 3-13). The Bulldogs completed their disappointing regular season under interim coach Pete Herrmann, who took over after Dennis Felton was fired on Jan. 29.
Georgia trailed only 27-23 at halftime despite making only 25 percent of its shots from the field. Terrance Woodbury, who scored 30 points in the Bulldogs' win at Kentucky on Wednesday, made only 2 of 12 shots for 4 points in the half and finished with 9 points on 4-for-21 shooting.
South Carolina made 9 of 16 3-point attempts. Georgia made only 4 of 22 3-point attempts and shot only 27.3 percent overall (18 of 66).
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