Dominating Silva returns as South Carolina beats Georgia 66-46

COLUMBIA - The dominating Chris Silva showed up for South Carolina on Saturday, and the Gamecocks, even with their 16-15 record, will get a double-bye again in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Silva had 24 points and 10 rebounds as South Carolina (16-15, 11-7) beat Georgia 66-46 on Senior Day.

Silva had 19 points and seven rebounds in the first half as the Gamecocks used an 18-1 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 30-14 lead with 7:30 left in the half and eventually a 23-point lead just before the break.

As Silva goes, often goes the Gamecocks. This was his sixth SEC game with 22 or more points and South Carolina is 4-2 in those. In four SEC games he has scored seven points or less and the Gamecocks are 1-3. In last weekend's loss to lowly Missouri, the 6-foot-9 all-SEC player in 2018 did not pull down a single rebound.

Nothing was different Saturday, even with all the hoopla, Silva said.

"I was playing like I always play - hard," Silva said.

A poor second half nearly spoiled the party. Georgia (11-20, 2-16) crawled back in it, trailing just 51-41 after E'Torrion Wilridge made one of two free throws with just over six minutes to go.

But the Bulldogs didn't make a shot from the field in the final 10 minutes and South Carolina did just enough despite shooting 18.2 percent (4 of 22) in the second half.

Georgia shot just 26.2 percent (11 of 42) on Saturday after making just 25.5 percent (13 of 51) of their shots in Wednesday's 64-39 loss to Missouri. The Bulldogs are the 13th seed in the SEC Tournament and will play on the opening night of the five-day tournament for the second year in a row.

Nicolas Claxton had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Derek Ogbeide added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Georgia.

BRACKET TALK

The SEC has seven teams likely in the NCAA Tournament. The fourth-place Gamecocks aren't one of them.

South Carolina doomed itself with a 5-8 nonconference record along with nothing that even resembled a good win and losses to 7-23 Wyoming and Stony Brook.

Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said he is annoyed his team isn't even in bubble talk, while a 16-14 Indiana team that is 7-12 in the Big Ten is.

"We've lost games. I understand. I'm not here to say we belong," Martin said. "But I'm here to say put ours against anybody on the bubble."

SENIOR SUPERLATIVES

South Carolina honored seniors Silva, Hassani Gravett and Tre Campbell before the game. They scored 38 of the Gamecocks' 44 first-half points.

"That was fun," Martin said. "That's the way it should be."

BIG PICTURE

Georgia: The Bulldogs' 16 SEC losses are the most ever, matching the 1973-74 team, which also went 2-16 in the league. Only once has Georgia won fewer SEC games, going 1-13 in 1955-56. Georgia will likely lose its 21st game sometime next week at the SEC Tournament, which would be the most losses for the Bulldogs since that 1955-56 team also lost 21 games. For Georgia fans, it's only 175 days until the 2019 football opener at Vanderbilt.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks now have finished in the top four in the SEC for the third time in four seasons, but unless they get the league's automatic bid by winning next week's SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks will likely have just one NCAA bid over that time (the 2017 run to the Final Four). And winning the SEC Tournament may be a tall task for South Carolina, which is 0-4 against the top three teams in the league (LSU, Kentucky and Tennessee).

UP NEXT

Georgia: The Bulldogs are the 13th seed and play Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks are the fourth seed and get a double-bye to Friday's SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

SOUTH CAROLINA 66, GEORGIA 46

GEORGIA (11-20)

Claxton 3-7 6-12 13, Ogbeide 2-2 7-8 11, Wilridge 1-4 2-6 4, Harris 2-10 2-2 7, Jackson 0-8 2-2 2, Toppin 0-0 0-0 0, Ngumezi 0-1 1-2 1, Fagan 1-1 0-0 2, Harrison 0-1 0-0 0, Crump 2-8 0-0 6. Totals 11-42 20-32 46.

SOUTH CAROLINA (16-15)

Silva 6-16 11-16 24, Bryant 5-8 4-5 14, Haase 0-2 0-0 0, Campbell 3-10 3-3 11, Gravett 4-11 2-2 12, Kotsar 1-8 0-2 2, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Frink 0-1 3-4 3, Borup 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 23-32 66.

Halftime_South Carolina 44-21. 3-Point Goals_Georgia 4-22 (Crump 2-8, Claxton 1-1, Harris 1-5, Jackson 0-8), South Carolina 5-15 (Campbell 2-6, Gravett 2-6, Silva 1-2, Haase 0-1). Fouled Out_Haase. Rebounds_Georgia 33 (Claxton, Ogbeide 10), South Carolina 37 (Silva 10). Assists_Georgia 5 (Jackson 4), South Carolina 8 (Silva, Campbell 2). Total Fouls_Georgia 21, South Carolina 21. Technicals_South Carolina coach Frank Martin. A_11,927 (18,000).