How It Happened: LSU Basketball Holds Off South Carolina in 92-87 Overtime Win

COLUMBIA, South Carolina – The LSU men’s basketball team scored the first three points of overtime and never trailed in the extra session to score a 92-87 win over South Carolina Saturday afternoon at the Colonial Life Arena.

The Tigers posted their 14th win of the season and their second in league play.

Tied at 78-78 after 20 minutes on a snowy day in Columbia which limited the crowd on hand in person for the contest, the two teams traded free throws for the first three minutes of play before South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson’s bucket brought Carolina back to within one, 85-84, of the Tigers with 1:34 to play.

The teams swapped more free throws and the Tigers lead was 86-85 with 39 seconds left. Off a South Carolina timeout, the Tigers worked the ball around and Pablo Tamba found Max Mackinnon open on the right side for a three-pointer with 21 seconds left to make it 89-85 in favor of LSU.

After two free throws by Carolina with nine seconds left, LSU’s Rashad King was fouled and he made 1-of-2 to push the Tiger lead back to three at 90-87 with just over seven ticks to play.

LSU elected to foul to prevent a tying three-point shot and Johnson missed on the first shot of a two-shot foul. He tried to intentionally miss the second shot but it didn’t draw iron turning the ball back to the Tigers with 3.8 seconds to play.

Marquel Sutton got behind the defense for a long pass from Mackinnon for a dunk to end the game with LSU getting the five-point win.

The entertaining, high scoring game saw the Tigers contribute in distributing the ball efficiently for easy open baskets, despite not having DJ Thomas dressed for the game with the nagging lower left leg injury. LSU would have 23 assists on 31 baskets during the game and stayed even with South Carolina on three-pointers as both teams made nine for the game.

LSU would shoot 51.7 percent for the contest (31-of-60) and after barely making 50 percent on Wednesday for the second Saturday in a row on the road was over 80 percent at the free throw line, making 21-of-25 for 84.0 percent.

While the Tigers had 11 turnovers in the game, LSU committed only two in the second half and extra session combined. USC had 15 points off the LSU turnovers, but while Carolina committed just six total, the Tigers were able to get 13 off those mistakes.

Mike Nwoko, 9-of-13 from the field, had 21 points to lead LSU, 14 in the second half. Rashad King, who returned to the starting lineup in place of Thomas, had 18 points and three assists, while Sutton had 16 points. Mackinnon did a little bit of everything with 15 points and a season high eight assists.

Johnson led South Carolina with 21 points and six assists, while Kobe Knox had 15 points, Elijah Strong 12 and Mike Sharavjamts added 11.

The Tigers had 42 points in the paint and led the game for 31:24. There were seven ties and eight lead changes.

LSU led all but 26 seconds in the first half in getting a 36-35 advantage at intermission. South Carolina took a 70-65 lead with 7:23 left on a 9-0 run, but LSU was able to take a 74-73 lead with 3:50 to play. The game was tied at 74-74, 76-76 and after Strong scored to give the Gamecocks the lead with 1:53 to play, the Tigers tied it on the next possession as Nwoko scored to tie the game at 78-78.

Both teams had a couple of shots to win the game late but none connected forcing the overtime session.

The win was LSU’s second on the road this season and both were in overtime as LSU won at Boston College in an extra session.

The Tigers have a bye in the midweek and will return to play next Saturday with the first of two home games as LSU hosts UGA at 5 p.m. at the Maravich Center.
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LSU vs South Carolina
January 31, 2026
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

Opening Statement (LSU Sports Radio Network) …
“I’m really thankful to win. I’m proud of our guys. It’s been choppy with some injury stuff this week and the poor performance against Mississippi State. So, I was really pleased to see us respond the right way. We were ready to go from the opening jump. I thought we got great performances. I really challenged Mike (Nwoko) to reestablish the physicality we need around the basket. He gets 21 (points). I thought Marquel Sutton going 16 (points) and eight (rebounds) was critical for us. He was a lot more aggressive and took advantage of his athleticism. Then Max (Mackinnon), I know we count on him to score a lot but, I really challenged him to use his playmaking skills. He gets eight assists on the night. Last but certainly not least, I just thought Rashad King was terrific. Not only scoring but, he drew six fouls and got 7 rebounds. He only had 1 turnover. I loved our unselfishness. I thought the ball moved. We had 23 assists on 31 baskets. That’s how we need to play moving forward.”

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