Ken Rogers
02/15 at 12:04 AM

TUSCALOOSA — In a season that has careened through the valley of the Southeastern Conference, Alabama found another way to lose Saturday.

Mike Holmes’ tip-in at the buzzer lifted South Carolina over the Crimson Tide, 75-73, at Coleman Coliseum.

Alabama couldn’t hold onto a lead that was 15 points in the first half, 10 points at halftime and 4 points with less than five minutes to play. The Crimson Tide (13-11, 3-7 SEC) didn’t make a basket in the final 3:43.

South Carolina overcame a poor first half and found a way to win a close game — again. The Gamecocks, who also have road wins at Baylor and Kentucky this season, improved to 18-5 overall and share the SEC East lead with Kentucky at 7-3.

“I’d rather be lucky than good,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. “We’ve got a group that refuses to quit. They work extremely hard. When you do that, a lot of things go your way. ... Sometimes the ball goes in; sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the tip falls; sometimes it doesn’t. We’re fortunate that some of those things fell our way this season.”

Alabama, on the other hand, hasn’t had a lot of breaks. Game officials looked at the replay several times before determining that Holmes’ tip did beat the buzzer. They couldn’t look at offensive goaltending because it is a judgment call and not subject to review.

“We thought the ball was still on the rim and we thought they’d call offensive goaltending,” said Alabama’s Alonzo Gee, who led the Tide with 18 points.

Still, interim coach Philip Pearson said it shouldn’t have come down to that.

“What you hope is you’ve made a play or two before that to where it doesn’t get down to that,” Pearson said.

“We were just a play or two on the short end of where we wanted to be.”

Gee knew the difference at the end of the game was on the boards.

“I think we’ve just got to get the rebound,” said Gee, who tied for team-high honors with eight each by JaMychal Green and Demetrius Jemison. “That solves everything. If we rebound we go overtime or even we get a shot up.”

Devan Downey, South Carolina’s point guard, led the Gamecocks with 18 points — but he worked for almost all of them. He was 6-for-20 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3-point range.

Still, the ball was in his hands at the end of the game.

Downey held the ball for about 20 seconds before making his move. He drove to the left side of the defense and put up a 15-footer from the baseline. The ball caromed off the rim. Carolina’s Dominique Archie swatted the ball back toward the goal and Holmes tipped it in.

While Alabama played poorly over the last 3:42 — 0-for-2 from the floor, 1-for-2 from the foul line, two defensive rebounds and two turnovers, including a charging foul on freshman guard Anthony Brock with 36 seconds to play — the key point was the first 3:30 of the second half.

South Carolina opened the second half with a 9-0 run, chopping the Tide’s 41-31 lead to a point.

“In the second half, the first five minutes was very important and we didn’t win the first five minutes,” Crimson Tide guard Mikhail Torrance said. “We didn’t go after ball screens as well as we did in the first half. Devan Downey split the trap. A guy like that, you have to keep intensity on him because he’s a great point guard.”

Horn, too, called it a crucial time in the game.

“It set the tone for how the second half was going to be played,” the first-year coach said.

Horn said South Carolina’s effectiveness on the boards in the second half was another key.

“The biggest problem in the first half was their offensive rebounding,” Horn said. “I think they had six putbacks.”

Alabama outscored South Carolina 12-0 on second-chance points in the first half. The Gamecocks then enjoyed a 15-4 edge on second-chance points in the second half — including the final possession.

“Our initial defense was pretty good,” Pearson said. “The problem is now you’ve got to track a rebound down.”

In addition to Downey’s 18, South Carolina had three others in double figures — Archie with 15, Brandis Raley-Ross with 13 and Holmes with 12.

Pearson said Downey deserves credit for several of those.

“He’s so wiggly,” the Alabama coach said. “He gets through there, avoids the charge and makes other guys better. They got a lot of layups off his penetration.”

In addition to Gee’s 18, Alabama got 17 from Senario Hillman and 12 from Torrance.

Green, who suffered a hip pointer at LSU on Sunday, didn’t start, but scored 9 points and had eight rebounds in 20 minutes.

Alabama next plays Wednesday at Florida. The Tide returns home next Saturday at 2 p.m. against Mississippi State.