March 3, 2026; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris disputed a call that resulted in what he felt was an offensive foul against the Tennessee Volunteers in the second half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images Meechie Johnson hit a deep 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to lift South Carolina to a 64-61 victory over Ole Miss in the team’s regular-season finale last Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
After Ole Miss turned the ball over with five seconds left and the score was tied at 61-61, the Gamecocks (13-18, 4-14 Southeastern Conference) had to go all over the court for the win. Johnson caught the ball on an inbounds pass and fired a shot just past halfcourt and into the net.
Johnson had 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting and 3 of 7 from behind the arc.
Nordin Kapik scored 12 points and Kobe Knox added 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14) was led by Malik Dia’s 22 points and AJ Storr had 13, but as a team the Rebels shot just 1 of 14 from behind the arc (7.1%).
After allowing Johnson to open the second half with a 3-pointer, Ole Miss responded with a 12-0 run to take its first lead of the day. The Rebels continued to attack the paint with layups by Dia and Storr, and a free throw by Kezza Giffa pushed Ole Miss’ lead to 40-37 with 14:39 left.
While Dia was dealing with foul trouble, South Carolina was able to dominate down low with Mike Sharavjamts getting his second layup and Elijah Strong hitting a jumper in the paint. Strong’s 3-pointer on the Gamecocks’ next possession brought the lead to 58-51 with 5:20 left.
Ole Miss took advantage of seven consecutive missed field goals in overtime as Dia made two back-to-back tough buckets to tie the game at 61 with a minute left.
Ole Miss started the game missing seven of eight shots, which gave South Carolina a 13-3 advantage.
Dia hit a turnaround jumper and Giffa capitalized on a Gamecocks’ turnover to cap eight straight points for the Rebels, cutting the deficit to 22-20 with 6:21 left in the half.
Storr had two nice layups in the final 90 seconds of the half for Ole Miss, but Johnson hit a pair of free throws and a jumper with six seconds left to give South Carolina a 34-28 lead at halftime.
–Field level media
