Michael Carrera exploded for 21 second-half points off the bench and LSU couldn’t overcome a 22-turnover performance, as it dropped its third consecutive Southeastern Conference game, 82-73 in overtime to South Carolina.
Carrera, who averaged 9.1 points per game heading into the contest, scored 10 of the 13 Gamecock points in overtime, sealing the fate for the Tigers (9-5, 0-3 SEC).
Sophomore guard Anthony Hickey paced the Tigers with 18 points, but was riddled with foul troubles that forced him to sit out much of the second half. Fellow sophomore Johnny O’Bryant III also ran into foul trouble, finishing with just nine points in 23 minutes.
“We were just trying to keep that pace while [Hickey] and Johnny were gone,” said LSU senior guard Charles Carmouche. “As we all know, they’re key parts of our team. It was tough having them on the bench.”
Ahead 69-65 with 2:41 remaining, LSU could not keep the Gamecocks (11-5, 1-2 SEC) out of the inside as Carrera netted a layup and junior guard Brenton Williams sunk two free throws to knot the score at 69 late in the contest.
After stingy defense from Carmouche forced a steal by Hickey, the sophomore passed on a last second shot opportunity, giving it to O’Bryant, whose 3-pointer was off the mark.
“Johnny was going to set a pick for me and I was going to come off and just create and get to the basket,” Hickey said. “I knew they were going to double [team] me and I kicked it out to Johnny.”
South Carolina ripped off the first four points of the overtime, aided by the 22nd Tiger turnover, and never looked back as it cruised to a 13-4 overtime advantage.
LSU coach Johnny Jones acknowledged his team was outworked in the five-minute overtime as it was out-rebounded 8-1 and went 0-for-6 from 3-point territory.
“Unfortunately for us, [South Carolina] made the tough plays down the stretch,” Jones said. “When you get into overtime, you want to strike first and we didn’t.”
The Tigers once again faced problems against a zone defense as they went cold from the field early in the first half, falling behind by as much as 12 points.
But LSU closed the half on a 9-1 run, highlighted by a Hickey trey from the corner and a layup from freshman guard Malik Morgan to head into the locker room only down a pair, 35-33.
“We’ve got to get better against the zone, period,” Carmouche said. “We’ve got to find a way to be aggressive and stop settling.”
Off to its worst SEC start since 2009, the Tigers will need to rebound quickly for a Saturday road game at Georgia, which also boasts an 0-3 conference record and ranks near the bottom of the SEC in every statistical category.
“It’s important that we understand that we’re supposed to be taking care of our home floor,” Jones said. “We’ve got to bounce back in terms of practicing better … and translating our practice into the game.”
