Rob Dillingham came off the bench to score 16 points, but No. 6 Kentucky fell at South Carolina 79-62 on Tuesday night.
Antonio Reeves scored 15 for the Cats, despite hitting just 6 of 18 from the floor. Tre Mitchell had 13 points and five rebounds for UK. Kentucky’s 62 points are the fewest for the Cats in a game all season.
Kentucky scored the first four points of the game, but South Carolina answered with the next seven to take a 7-4 lead.
The Gamecocks would lead 10-6 before Kentucky went on an 11-2 run, sparked by Dillingham, to lead 17-12. After South Carolina got a three from Jacobi Wright, Dillingham hit a three to give UK a 20-15 advantage with 9:04 left in the half.
A Zvonimir Ivisic free throw gave the Cats a 21-16 lead, but the Gamecocks went on an 11-2 run to take a 27-23 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first half. Kentucky would get a Dillingham jumper to get within two, 27-25, but the Cats did not score for the remainder of the half and South Carolina took a 33-25 lead into the break. The 25 points marked Kentucky’s lowest scoring half of the season. Dillingham led all scorers with 11 points in the first half.
Reeves scored the first four points of the second half to get the Cats within four, 33-29. But B.J. Mack answered with a three and South Carolina led 36-29.
The Gamecocks would lead 38-31 before the Cats got a three from Reeves to cut the deficit to four. After a South Carolina basket, Mitchell scored four in a row to get UK within two, 40-38. However, the Gamecocks scored the next five points to re-establish a seven-point lead, 45-38. That was part of a 13-2 run that gave South Carolina a 53-40 advantage with 11:32 to play.
The South Carolina run continued. After a D.J. Wagner basket, the Gamecocks went on a 9-2 run to take a 62-44 lead with 7:49 remaining. South Carolina would lead by as many as 20 in the second half.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, visiting Bud Walton Arena to face Arkansas. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN.
