No. 4 USC AIKEN 84, No. 1 AUGUSTA 77
AUGUSTA -- The USC Aiken men's basketball team's focus the last two months has been on staying in the moment.
The Pacers haven't gotten too high or too low, and they haven't been thinking about statistics or odds - like the odds of beating one team three times in a season, which is the challenge they faced Sunday night against top-seeded Augusta in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
They haven't looked past any opponents to a future game, they haven't let a loss snowball into a streak, and they've moved on from wins to the next game rather than becoming content.
That doesn't mean they won't enjoy this one, though.
The fourth-seeded Pacers knocked off their rivals again, this time ending Augusta's season on the Jaguars' home floor with an 84-77 victory. USCA's third win of the season over Augusta means the Pacers will play at Christenberry Fieldhouse one more time, at 7 p.m. Tuesday against third-seeded Lincoln Memorial for the Southeast Region title and a spot in the Elite Eight.
"We did a good job of coming out tonight and taking advantage of a couple of things that we thought we would be able to expose," USCA head coach Mark Vanderslice said. "They just made it tough on us all night and kept battling. We're kind of still trying to process it a little bit. Beating a team three times is difficult, especially at their place. A lot of respect for their program, their coach and everything they do."
The Pacers (24-8) trailed once all night, and that was when Augusta's (27-6) Ja'Queze Kirby splashed a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the game to give the Jaguars a 3-0 lead.
USCA answered that with a 14-0 run and led the rest of the way, taking a 38-29 edge into halftime. The Pacers' defense limited Augusta to 39.3% shooting in the first half, and the Pacers couldn't miss at the other end. They shot 65.4% in the half, turning good defense into good offense while also draining some tough jumpers along the way.
"There were some tough shots. That kind of comes with an NCAA Tournament type of game," Vanderslice said. "Fortunately they were falling on our end. I think in the first half our defensive performance was pretty good.
"... In the first half I thought we did a really good job of fueling our offense through our defense. Second half, not as much. But we were rebounding and hitting some shots in the second half, as well. The first half in particular set the tone and the stage for the rest of the game for us. We really wanted to come out, be physical, and really set the tone, and that's what we did."
Augusta had a much more successful second half offensively, shooting 60.7% and hitting six of 11 3-point attempts. But the Jaguars couldn't get the stops they needed at the end, as USCA had an answer every time Augusta cut into the lead.
Five Pacers scored in double figures, and once again Tyler Johnson led the way. Johnson scored a team-high 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting with five rebounds, and he played all but about 30 seconds of the first half - Vanderslice said he couldn't afford to take him off the floor because of his energy and effectiveness.
Tehree Horn scored 16 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line, Karon Boyd scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, Jalen McCoy scored 14 points, and Jameel Rideout had 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting while also snaring eight rebounds.
It was a group effort on the board again for the Pacers, who had a plus-12 advantage on the glass for the second night in a row.
Tyree Myers scored 20 points to lead four Jaguars in double figures. Miguel Arnold scored 17, Tyshaun Crawford had 15 and Kirby scored 13.
Crawford, the Jaguars' 7-foot-1, 263-pound center, was again a focal point for the Pacers. Vanderslice wanted to have a substitution pattern of two or three players constantly coming in fresh to see which lineup would work best. Early foul trouble for Pacers center Samba Ndiaye meant USCA rolled with a smaller lineup - Boyd and McCoy, each 6-5, spent time guarding Crawford, and 6-10 freshman center Chedlet Delva played a handful of minutes.
They attacked Crawford when they had the ball, which ultimately landed him in foul trouble, too.
The Pacers will play in a regional final for the first time since 2014, when they reached the Final Four. The 2019 Pacers looked to be well on their way to a regional final when they led Augusta by 19 with under 5 minutes to play, only for the Jaguars to come all the way back to tie the game and eventually win it in overtime.
Vanderslice said Sunday night that loss was a nightmare, one that he's carried with him until now. There's no need for that one to linger any longer - instead, it's on to the next one.
That mantra's working pretty well for his team right now, after all.
