After taking down two nationally ranked teams earlier this season, the South Carolina men's basketball team lost to the No. 16 Auburn Tigers 67-80 on Wednesday night.
Heading into the game, the Tigers were coming off their first two losses of the season. Auburn fell to SEC opponents Florida and Alabama by close to 20 points.
South Carolina's starting forward Keyshawn Bryant was missing for Wednesday's game due to a head injury suffered in the Gamecocks matchup with Texas A&M.
To start the night, the Gamecocks found a rhythm early as they secured a lead after just three minutes of play.
Despite South Carolina having a higher field goal percentage, 47.5%, than the Tigers 45.6% through the first half, Auburn took over the lead for the last several minutes.
South Carolina had nine turnovers in the first half with one of them being due to a shot clock violation just inside the ten minute mark.
Auburn freshman Isaac Okoro made a big impact in the first half, finishing it out with a quick layup after a missed 3-point jumper from Devan Cambridge. This increased Auburn's lead to 39-31.
The Tigers came out of the locker room and dominated the second half. They maintained a lead through the rest of the game after a 19-4 run that nearly finished South Carolina's night with about seven minutes left to play.
Cambridge had a big night for the Tigers with 26 points, making him the main reason Auburn outscored South Carolina 38-16 off the bench.
Gamecock freshman Jermaine Couisnard had another offensively strong game, finishing with 16 points and leading the team. Senior Maik Kotsar continued his successful season with seven defensive rebounds, one offensive rebound and five assists.
South Carolina fell to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in SEC play. The Gamecocks will come back to Columbia to face the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday Jan. 25 in Colonial Life Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will air on SEC Network.