Downey scores 24 and gets help to lead South Carolina past sloppy Florida 77-71

South Carolina defeats Florida 77-71

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Devan Downey scored 24 points to lead South Carolina to a 77-71 win over Florida on Wednesday night.

Downey was off his nearly 31-point average in Southeastern Conference games, but he finally got help from his teammates. Brandis Raley-Ross added 20 for the Gamecocks (14-9, 5-4).

Florida (17-7, 6-4) led for most of the game. But the Gators scored just one field goal in 6 minutes late in the second half as South Carolina turned a 53-all tie into a 67-57 lead.

Florida shot 56 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 20 times and shot 10-for-23 from the foul line to hurt its hopes of making the NCAA tournament for the first time since winning the national title in 2007.

South Carolina missed its first 10 3-pointers, but shot 6-of-12 the rest of the way from behind the arc.