Georgia 73, South Carolina 56: Kenny Gaines had a career-high 27 points to lead the visiting Bulldogs over the Gamecocks in SEC play.

Gaines equaled a personal best with five 3-pointers while Marcus Thornton added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Georgia (15-11, 9-5), which has won five of its last six games. Brandon Morris pitched in with 12 points and Charles Mann notched seven along with five boards.

Sindarius Thornwell's 18 points and five assists led the offense for South Carolina (10-17, 3-11), which lost its second consecutive game and fell to 2-5 in its last seven. Brenton Williams registered 16 points and Michael Carrera pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds for the Gamecocks, who shot 26.3 percent thanks largely to a 5-of-31 second-half performance.

South Carolina missed its first 14 attempts from the field after the intermission as Georgia used a 14-1 spurt to begin to run away. After Thornwell hit a jumper and Williams drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to pull the Gamecocks to within 53-40 near the midway point of the half, South Carolina endured an 0-for-8 stretch as the Bulldogs used six unanswered points to put the game away.

The Gamecocks held the early advantage, seeing their lead grow to as many as seven early in the first half before nine points from Gaines highlighted a 12-4 run that pushed Georgia in front. The Bulldogs' biggest first-half lead was four, but a 3-pointer from Brian Steele with 25 seconds left sent the teams into halftime knotted at 34-34.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Georgia has beaten South Carolina five straight times in the series and eight times in the last nine meetings. ... The Gamecocks shot 10-of-26 in the opening 20 minutes before going ice cold after the break. ... The Bulldogs, who are 0-6 on the season when they get outrebounded, controlled the boards 40-38.