After consecutive losses, No. 20 South Carolina handles Ole Miss

B.J. Mack scored 17 points to lead a balanced scoring effort and No. 20 South Carolina bounced back from its only consecutive losses of the season to defeat Ole Miss 72-59 on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.

Zachary Davis contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, Collin Murray-Bowles added 12 points and Jacobi Wright had 10 for the Gamecocks (22-5, 10-4 SEC).

Moussa Cisse scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures for the Rebels (19-8, 6-8), who lost for the fifth time in their last six games. Jaemyn Brakefield had 12 points and seven rebounds, Allen Flanigan had 11 points and Matthew Murrell 10.

South Carolina, which finished with a 44-34 rebounding advantage, made 8 of 17 3-pointers compared to 3 of 16 for Ole Miss.

The Rebels trimmed their 14-point halftime deficit to 11 points twice early in the second half before Ta'lon Cooper made two jumpers and Wright added a 3-pointer to push the Gamecocks' lead to 48-32.

Cisse's dunk and Brakefield's trey pulled Ole Miss within 11 again before Mack's 3-pointer gave South Carolina a 55-40 lead midway through the half.

The Gamecocks, who defeated the Rebels 68-65 on Feb. 6 in Columbia, S.C., weren't seriously threatened thereafter.

Ole Miss scored the first four points of the game, then South Carolina scored the next eight points as the Rebels went cold, missing 10 straight shots at one point.

TJ Caldwell made two free throws to get Ole Miss within 8-6, before the Gamecocks scored the next five points.

Flanigan made a layup for the Rebels' first field goal in nearly seven minutes, the start of a 5-0 run as Ole Miss got within 13-11.

The Rebels trimmed the lead to two points twice more before 3-pointers by Mack, Cooper and Wright helped South Carolina open a 33-19 lead with 1:18 left in the half.

Cisse made a free throw to stop a 10-0 run by the Gamecocks as well as a scoring drought of more than six minutes by the Rebels.

Morris Ugusuk made a 3-pointer for South Carolina before Flanigan hit a jumper, leaving the Gamecocks with a 36-22 halftime lead.