Gamecocks stumble to sixth straight loss

COLUMBIA -- Devan Downey's Senior Night, much like his senior season, will go down as an undeserved disappointment.

Despite roaring to an 11-0 lead, South Carolina, mystifyingly, fell apart in the final minutes to allow Alabama to steal a 79-70 victory Wednesday night at Colonial Life Arena.

"I'm very disappointed," said Downey, the All-SEC point guard who'll go down as one of the school's best players. "I just wanted to go out with a win."

He didn't, and the slimmest SEC crowd of the season -- something in the neighborhood of 8,000 fans -- saw the team exit with a wobble.

Downey finished with 23 points and set the school's all-time steals record,

but the loss is the sixth in a row for the Gamecocks (14-15, 5-10 SEC).

With a trip to ranked Vanderbilt and the SEC Tournament ahead, USC needs to pull some surprises to get in contention for an NIT bid.

It's USC's longest losing streak since the 2002-03 season, the year before the Gamecocks' last NCAA appearance.

What makes Wednesday's result a true stunner, especially considering both teams came in with identical 14-14 records, is the fact that Alabama left probably its best player, JaMychal Green, at home.

"I thought our guys came together and just fought," Tide coach Anthony Grant said.

You sure thought the Tide (15-14, 5-10) would need Green and his 14.8 points and team-high 7.2 rebounds a game. It sure looked that way early, too -- but not in the end as Alabama outscored USC 17-6 in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Missed free throws -- the Gamecocks were 8-for-17 in the game, including a span of six straight misses -- spelled disaster as a big early lead dissipated.

"If you make those, it changes the game and we keep the lead," USC coach Darrin Horn said.

Using a lineup that featured four seniors, including former walkon Robert Wilder, the Gamecocks scored the game's first 11 points.

Wilder even had a basket in a stretch that sure lent itself to the notion that USC would wallop the Green-less Tide.

"We just kind of relaxed," Downey said. "We thought they were going to lay down and they didn't."

Rebounding wasn't at all an issue for Alabama, however. The Tide, which at one point had an 18-4 rebounding advantage, wound up with 49 to USC's 26.

Two Alabama players, Chris Hines (14 rebounds) and Tony Mitchell (10), had double-digit rebounds.

Comparatively, the Gamecocks' only experienced big man, 6-9 junior Sam Muldrow, had four total rebounds.

"Just in general, that's a big number," Horn said of Alabama's 49 rebounds. "Sam's numbers surprise me."

Despite the disadvantage, USC stayed in front until Charvez Davis' 3-pointer with 5:51 to play gave Alabama a 62-59 lead.

South Carolina hit just two field goals, scoring just four points, from that moment until the end.

Downey, the unquestioned team catalyst, didn't score after he hit a jumper at the 8:00 mark. As Horn pointed out, he had two or three good looks down the stretch, but he uncharacteristically couldn't connect.

Freshman Ramon Galloway had 12 of his 21 points in the second half, including the team's final two field goals -- spaced out by about four minutes.

A team that once roared to hand then-No. 1 Kentucky its first loss is falling apart, in a true disservice to the kind of career Downey's had.

Horn said, unlike Saturday's lethargic loss to Mississippi State, that at least effort wasn't an issue Wednesday. Even so, it's six losses and counting -- and at precisely the wrong time of the year.

"You wanted a chance to get the seniors a win at home and end the streak," Horn said. "Bottom line is, in this game and business, you won or you lost."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com, check out the Gamecocks blog at postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks and follow him on Twitter (@gamecocksblog).