COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sindarius Thornwell ran off the court after the South Carolina men’s basketball team’s victory against Mississippi State with the Gamecock fans chanting “M-V-P, M-V-P.”
South Carolina coach Frank Martin agrees, especially after watching Thornwell score 17 of his 22 points in the second half of a 63-57 victory Tuesday night.
“That’s why he’s the best player in this league,” Martin said.
Thornwell said that’s for others to decide come player of the year voting. He thinks Kentucky’s Malik Monk has had an exceptional year. Still, Thornwell would put his season up against anyone in the Southeastern Conference. “If I had control of if I’d get it, I would definitely vote myself,” he said. “But I don’t so all I can do is go out and play and keep leading my team.”
That’s what Thornwell did when he helped the Gamecocks (22-8, 12-5 SEC) open a 10-point lead in the second half. When the Bulldogs rallied to lead 52-50 with less than five minutes left, he marshalled South Carolina’s final charge.
Thornwell’s foul shots tied it up and fellow senior Duane Notice followed with the free throw that put South Carolina up to stay. Moments later, Thornwell won a loose ball scramble and passed it to Notice, who hit a 3-pointer — his only basket — to extend South Carolina’s edge.
The Gamecocks won the second-most SEC games in their history and clinched one of the top four seeds for next week’s league tournament.
MSU (14-15, 5-12), which was playing without injured leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon, erased a 10-point deficit midway through the half and took a two-point lead on Tyson Carter’s 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 29 seconds to go. But Thornwell tied things up with two foul shots before Notice’s go-ahead free throw.
Chris Silva had 15 points and 11 rebounds (third double-double) for South Carolina.
MSU lost its seventh-straight game and ninth in the past 10 games. Mario Kegler had 12 points and Carter 11 to lead the Bulldogs.
Weatherspoon missed the game with a ligament injury. He went through warmups before the settling for a seat on the bench. MSU coach Ben Howland said he didn’t know when Weatherspoon could return.
South Carolina rallied despite a 1-for-11 start from the field by seniors Thornwell, Notice and Justin McKie. Thornwell also saw his foul-shooting streak of 32 in a row end with a miss from the line right before halftime.
South Carolina’s cold start included an 0-for-10 start from 3-point range until PJ Dozier hit the first one.
The Gamecocks made 25 of 34 free throws, while the Bulldogs were 10 of 12. MSU was called for 26 fouls, nearly double South Carolina’s 14.
“Granted we were fouling down the stretch with some purpose, but up to that point we were not,” Howland said.
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