Cats Scratched

Devan Downey hit a floating jumper with 3.2 seconds left to propel South Carolina to a 79-78 win over No. 24 Kentucky in Rupp Arena today, the first big SEC road win of the Darrin Horn era and only the second Gamecock victory ever in the hallowed basketball hall.

We happened to catch the second half of the game, which saw Carolina (16-4, 5-2 SEC) fall behind by ten points before embarking on a 15-4 run to take the lead with ten minutes left.

From there, it was a see-saw battle with scorching hot perimeter shooting from Downey and Zam Frederick keeping Carolina in the contest until Downey’s floater sealed it at the end.

Seriously, people. The Gamecocks of last year would’ve folded like cheap politicians in a game like this one, but something’s gotten into this team.

Something we wish would get into South Carolina’s football team.

We wrote the other day about how impressed we are by Horn, but a win at Rupp Arena?

Yeah … that was totally unexpected.

It was particularly sweet for Carolina’s young head coach, who is from Lexington, KY and had dozens of friends and family members attending the game.