NCAA Tournament 2017, Baylor vs South Carolina: Highlights, score and recap

Friday night’s South Carolina vs Baylor game was looking like it would be a close game early, but the Gamecocks pulled away big-time.

The game started like any other. Baylor took a 15-13 lead and looked as if it might just assert its dominance as the higher seed against the cinderella South Carolina Gamecocks. However, the Gamecocks weren’t going down that easily. They went on an 18-0 run near the end of the first half.

Baylor got ice-cold from the floor, making about 25 percent of its shots at one point in the first half. The Bears went into the halftime locker room with a 15-point deficit on their hands. They came out and South Carolina built the lead to 21 before the Bears went on a 10-0 run to make it a game again.

Pulling within 11 seemed to give the Bears the momentum needed to end the game strong and make one of the best comebacks of the tournament, but the Gamecocks just wore the Bears down and pulled off their second consecutive upset, 70-50.

Who would have thought the Gamecocks would be heading to the Elite Eight after starting the tourney as a No. 7 seed from the SEC who no one talked about. Heck, it seemed like more people were picking Marquette to beat the Gamecocks in the first round.

When will this incredible cinderella run end?

Three Stars

South Carolina’s hero from the first two wins was once again the top performer on Friday. Sindarius Thornwell continues to show off, scoring 24 points and six rebounds.

Chris Silva was the top performer in the post for South Carolina and he gave the Bears a problem down low, which was somewhat of a surprise. The Gamecocks’ sophomore forward finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Johnathan Motley was contained for the most part, but he fought hard until the end for Baylor. He finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and a block.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/845431852294848512

Next Game

South Carolina will play the winner of the other East Region matchup between Wisconsin and Florida on Sunday. It’s not exactly the game everyone was expecting, but it’ll be an interesting showdown in New York.