Thomas, Watford rally LSU past South Carolina 85-80

Updated Jan. 16, 2021 11:10 p.m. ET

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Cameron Thomas scored 25 points, Trendon Watford had 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and LSU rallied to beat South Carolina 85-80 on Saturday night.

The Tigers (10-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) trailed for nearly 34 minutes of game time but went on a 20-4 run during the final eight minutes with Thomas scoring the last six points to make it 84-76 with 34 seconds left. The Gamecocks (3-3, 1-1) missed 11 straight shots from the field while the game slipped away.

Javonte Smart added 15 points and Darius Days scored 11 for LSU.

Keyshawn Bryant had 26 points and seven rebounds, and AJ Lawson had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, scoring 18 in the first half for South Carolina. Wildens Leveque and Justin Minaya added 12 points each, Minaya with 10 rebounds and Leveque with eight.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, South Carolina coach Frank Martin, assistant coach Chuck Martin, and Doug Edwards, who handles student-athlete development, were not in attendance. Assistant coach Bruce Shingler made his head coaching debut as the acting coach.

South Carolina has had eight games cancelled or postponed this season.

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