College basketball

SEC men: Tide's big surge overwhelms Gamecocks

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama looked pretty good when Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton were struggling. The Crimson Tide was downright impressive when the two stars got hot.

Winston and Shelton combined to hit seven 3-pointers in the second half and No. 16 Alabama routed South Carolina 87-68 on Saturday, beating a team coming off a win over Kentucky.

"Alabama today played better against us than any team we've played this year," said Gamecocks coach Dave Odom, whose team lost by four to No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 18. "They smelled blood at halftime and came out and put a little more defensive heat on us."

Plus, Winston and Shelton went from hitting nothing to hitting everything.

They each had three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Held to six points combined in the first half, Winston finished with 19 and Shelton 16 as Alabama remained unbeaten at Coleman Coliseum and won for the 10th time in 11 games. They were 0-for-7 on 3-pointers between them in the first half.

The Tide maintained a two-game lead over LSU in the SEC West and plays both the Tigers and overall league leader Kentucky this week.

Despite a strong start, the Gamecocks couldn't duplicate Tuesday night's 73-61 upset of No. 3 Kentucky, their first win over a ranked opponent in nearly three years. Alabama started a 33-8 run in the final five minutes of the first half to turn a one-point game into an easy win.

The Gamecocks didn't hit a field goal after Antoine Tisby's layup with 4:57 left.

MISSISSIPPI 60, TENNESSEE 58: Tommie Eddie hit two free throws with 32.7 seconds left to lift the host Rebels.

After Eddie's free throws made it 59-58, the Volunteers got the ball back and called time out with 14.3 seconds left. But Dane Bradshaw missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Cavadas Nunnery made it a two-point game with a free throw with less than a second left. He missed his second attempt and time expired during the rebound.

Eddie was dominant late, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the final 11 minutes despite a pesky wrist injury. He hurt his wrist Feb. 12 at Alabama.

NO. 3 KENTUCKY 94, MISS. ST. 78: Freshman center Randolph Morris scored 17 to lead seven Kentucky players in double figures as the Wildcats posted their highest point total of the season.

UK extended its streak of 20-win seasons to 15 and it's the school's 50th season with at least 20 wins.

Kentucky has won 21 straight games against West teams and is 42-4 all-time against Mississippi State in Lexington, 21-1 at Rupp Arena.

The Wildcats, who looked lethargic in their previous two games - a win over Georgia and a loss at South Carolina - came out energized against MSU, pounding the ball inside to Morris, stepping into passing lanes and running at nearly every opportunity.

VANDERBILT 79, ARKANSAS 65: Shan Foster scored a season-high 25 to lead the host Commodores, who went on a 19-7 run to take a 74-58 lead with two minutes left. Foster hit five 3-pointers, and Vanderbilt connected on 12 of 27 from behind the arc against the league's best perimeter defense. Ronnie Brewer led Arkansas with 20 points and five assists.

GEORGIA 57, AUBURN 45: Returning from an ankle injury, Levi Stukes scored 15 points in a backup role for the host Bulldogs, who snapped a seven-game losing streak. The teams are the SEC's poorest shooters in conference games, and they played to form - the Bulldogs shot 37.2 percent, the Tigers 31.5 including 1-of-17 on 3-pointers.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]