Ramon Galloway came off the bench and scored seven of his 22 points in the second overtime to give South Carolina an 87-85 double-overtime victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday night.
The Gamecocks (4-1) were down by as many as 12 points in the first half but came back in the second. A 3-pointer by Bruce Ellington with 20.7 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 67 and forced the first overtime. Ellington finished the game with 20 points.
In the first overtime, Sam Muldrow hauled down a rebound and made a midrange jumper with 5 seconds left for South Carolina to tie the game at 75 and force another overtime.
After WKU (3-3) scored the first three points in the second overtime, Galloway made two layups in transition to give the Gamecocks the lead for good.
The Hilltoppers had the ball with 4.4 seconds left but were not able to get a shot off to force a third overtime.
South Carolina coach Darrin Horn got his second win over Western Kentucky in as many seasons. Horn coached the Hilltoppers for five seasons and took them to the Sweet 16 in 2008 before leaving for South Carolina the next season.
The game featured eight ties and 17 lead changes.
South Carolina scored 23 points off 19 turnovers by the Hilltoppers.
Galloway made 8 of his 16 shots, including 3 for 5 from behind the arc.
After shooting just 30.3 percent in the first half (10 for 33), the Gamecocks responded by shooting 40 percent in the second (14 for 35). They had six 3-pointers in the second half after making just one in the first half.
South Carolina shot 9 of 15 from the floor in the two overtimes, while Western Kentucky was just 7 for 18.
Juan Pattillo had game highs in points (24) and rebounds (18), while Steffphon Pettigrew added 16 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
