Ole Miss, South Carolina buckling under weight of close calls
Style points are not part of the picture for Ole Miss and South Carolina down the stretch.
The Rebels have one win in their last 12 games, and the Gamecocks are 2-10 in their last dozen games as the SEC foes square off Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams in Oxford, Miss.
The Rebels (12-18, 4-13 SEC) have been more competitive. Four of their past five games were decided in the final minute, including overtime and double-overtime losses.
No. 24 Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss 89-86 in the twin extra sessions on Tuesday. Despite AJ Storr (14 points) and Malik Dia (11 points) scoring double figures for the third straight game, the Commodores thrived on Ole Miss miscues.
The Rebels turned the ball over 17 times, a season-high for conference play, which led to 29 Vanderbilt points.
"You have to control what you can control," Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. "We can't control some of these calls and things like that, but tonight, 17 turnovers against an NCAA Tournament team, that's ultimately what cost us the game. So, no excuses."
Ole Miss hosts a South Carolina team with a 1-7 record on the road in SEC play. The Rebels have been equally poor at home, with an identical 1-7 record on their own court in league games.
Storr (15.1 ppg) continues to be a spark plug off the bench, especially at home during conference play where he's averaging 20.7 points per game.
South Carolina (12-18, 3-14) is coming off a lopsided 78-59 loss to No. 23 Tennessee on Tuesday.
After falling behind by 12 points at halftime, South Carolina was able to cut the deficit to six points quickly into the half. But the Gamecocks unraveled from there, allowing 56 points in the paint and 22 assists to the Volunteers.
"They did a good job passing the ball, but still, some blown coverages in terms of how aggressive we wanted to be in those, and then that led to a lack of confidence in what we were doing that way," coach Lamont Paris said after the loss.
The Gamecocks are headed by Meechie Johnson, who leads the team in points (17.3), assists (4.3) and steals (1.3).
South Carolina has won the last three matchups in Oxford.