Carrera leads South Carolina to 78-64 victory

Michael Carrera had 20 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday night to lift South Carolina to a 78-64 victory over Alabama and continue the Gamecocks best start in 46 years.

The Gamecocks (6-2 Southeastern Conference) matched the 19-2 start of the 1969-70 team and gave coach Frank Martin the most wins in a season since he arrived four years ago.

Carrera scored 16 of his points in the second half when the Gamecocks built a 15-point lead, then saw The Crimson Tide (11-9, 2-6) cut things to 67-61 in the final five minutes before pulling away.

Retin Obasohan had 23 points, including 14 straight in the second half, for the Crimson Tide before fouling out in the final minute.

Alabama was called for 30 fouls in a physical game, players jostling with each other in the handshake line afterward.

Sindarius Thornwell had 14 points and Chris Silva 12 for South Carolina.

South Carolina looked like it had this one sewn up after Carrera’s foul shot gave the Gamecocks a 60-45 lead with less than 10 minutes left. That’s when Obasohan went on a tear for the Crimson Tide with 14 points in a row. When he passed to open teammate Shannon Hale for an easy bucket, Alabama trailed just 67-61. Again, it was Carrera who came through, this time with a long 3-pointer to restore the Gamecocks comfortable lead.

Alabama could not recover. Hale finished with 16 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

South Carolina was looking to inch closer to 20 wins – something it has not accomplished since 2008-09 – and gain a measure of revenge against the Crimson Tide, who ended the Gamecocks’ 15-0 start with a 73-50 loss earlier this month.

South Carolina relied on defense to stay out in front early on. Carrera’s 3-pointer put the Gamecocks ahead 22-20 with 8:12 left. Alabama missed 10 of its final 12 shots of the half to fall behind 35-26 at the break.

Riley Norris was the architect of Alabama’s earlier win over the Gamecocks, scoring a career-high 27 points off eight 3-pointers. Norris didn’t have that A-game this time, going 1 of 4 with three points in the opening half. He ended with 11 points.

South Carolina overcame dreadful first-half foul shooting to build the lead. The Gamecocks, eighth in SEC free-throw shooting at 67.4 percent, were just 9 of 19 the first 20 minutes.

TIP-INS

Alabama: The Crimson Tide have done well this season against Palmetto State teams, so far 3-0 against opponents based in South Carolina. Alabama topped Clemson 51-50 and Winthrop 72-60 in back-to-back games this past December. Earlier this month, the Crimson Tide topped South Carolina 73-50, ending the Gamecocks perfect, 15-0 start.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have won 12 games at home so far this season, their most since winning 16 at Colonial Life Arena in 2008-09. That’s also the last season South Carolina won as many games as it has this year, going 21-10. … The game was the seventh men’s basketball sell-out at the 18,000-seat arena, which opened in 2002-03 season.

UP NEXT

Alabama plays at Mississippi State on Tuesday night.

South Carolina starts a two-game road trip at Georgia on Tuesday night.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Carrera leads South Carolina to 78-64 victory."