Nobody saw this coming.
The South Carolina Gamecocks built a 15-point, first half lead and held on in the closing seconds to upset the heavily favored Kentucky, 71-68, before a crowd of nearly 20,000 fans on Tuesday night
The loss ended a 28-game home winning streak, as the Wildcats dropped to 10-6 overall and 1-3 in SEC games.
In the second half, Kentucky would trail by as many as 12 points before beginning to chip away. The Cats would still trail by 11 with 3:58 remaining.
That’s when the Cats got a three from Antonio Reeves, a layup from Daimion Collins, a Sahvir Wheeler jumper, and a CJ Fredrick three to get within one, 69-68, with 51 seconds left.
UK would trail 71-68 and had one final possession with a chance to tie. But three attempts from behind the arc all missed and the Cats came up short.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 19 points and 12 rebounds while Fredrick net 14, Reeves added 13 points and Wheeler tossed in 10.
Kentucky will look to end a two-game losing streak at Tennessee on Saturday. Game time is Noon.
At Lexington
SCORE BY HALVES:
SC (8-8)….42 29 – 71
UK (10-6)..32 36 – 68
Scoring:
South Carolina (68) – Hayden Brown 4(1) 0-0 11; Gregory Jackson II 4(2) 2-3 16; Josh Gray 2 0-0 4; Chico Carter Jr. 0(1) 0-0 3; Meechie Johnson 3(6) 2-2 26; Zachary Davis 1 0-0 2; Jacobi Wright 1 2-2 4; and Daniel Hankins-Sanford 1(1) 0-0 5. Totals: 16(11) 6-7 71.
Kentucky (68) – Daimion Collins 1 0-1 2; Chris Livingston 1 0-0 2; Oscar Tshiebwe 6 7-10 19; Sahvir Wheeler 5 0-3 10; Cason Wallace 2 0-0 4; Lance Ware 2 0-0 4; Antonio Reeves 5(1) 0-0 13; and CJ Fredrick 4(2) 0-0 14. Totals: 26(3) 7-14.
Next up: Kentucky (10-6) at Tennessee (14-2), Noon, Jan. 14.