South Carolina stuns Mississippi on wild halfcourt buzzer-beater in overtime

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss basketball found a new most brutal way to lose.

The Rebels lost 77-74 against South Carolina on Tuesday when Gamecocks guard James Reese V hit a half-court buzzer-beater as time expired in overtime. The Rebels had the ball with 30 seconds left with a chance to win, but guard Jarkel Joiner ran out too much clock and air-balled a heave to give the Gamecocks the ball back with 1.7 seconds left after a timeout.

"I thought we had the game in hand for sure," Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. "Our inability with our guard play to handle pressure up in the game with 1-and-1, two-shot fouls, taking care of the ball, 10-second counts. It was our inability for ball security to get shots at the goal."

Both teams played ugly in the first half, each shooting below 40% with 11 turnovers. Play picked up in the second half, especially for Ole Miss early. The Rebels led by as many as eight points in the early minutes of the period before the Gamecocks clawed back.

South Carolina tied the score 65-65 with 1:15 remaining and took its first lead since the first minute of the second half on a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left, going up 68-66.

The Gamecocks forced a turnover seconds later and the Rebels fouled on a fast break, but South Carolina missed a 1-and-1 free throw to give the Rebels possession back with eight seconds left. Joiner made a contested layup with 1.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Center Nysier Brooks made a free throw to tie the score at 74-74 and then the Rebels forced a stop to set up Joiner's final possession.