South Carolina Gamecocks vs Clemson Tigers Box Score on Dec 15, 2019

A.J. Lawson scored 20 points and visiting South Carolina snapped a three-game losing streak against state rival Clemson on Sunday afternoon with a 67-54 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Lawson, a sophomore guard, scored 20 or more points for the fifth time this season as the Gamecocks (7-4) prevailed in a sloppy affair in which the teams combined for 43 turnovers.

Clemson (5-5), which has lost four consecutive games, committed a season-high 22 turnovers while South Carolina turned the ball over 21, also a season high.

Lawson, the Gamecocks' leading scorer with a 15.9-point average entering the game, made 8 of 15 shots from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

Senior forward Maik Kotsar added 11 points for South Carolina, while junior guard Jair Bolden scored 10 points. South Carolina shot 45.1 percent from the floor.

Clemson was led by junior forward Aamir Simms, who scored 21 points, hitting double figures for the seventh time this season. The Tigers' leading scorer, graduate transfer forward Tevin Mack, was held to three points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Freshman guard Al-Amir Dawes added 13 points for the Tigers.

Clemson, which has won 11 of its last 16 games against South Carolina, fell to 8-2 in its past 10 games against Southeastern Conference opponents.

The Tigers shot 28.0 percent from the floor -- including 28.1 percent from beyond the arc -- and were outrebounded 41-32.

South Carolina bolted to a 12-6 lead before Clemson began to battle back behind Simms. Simms scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor in the first half as the Tigers cut their deficit to 28-26 at the half.

Clemson briefly took the lead on a 3-pointer by Dawes early in the second half, but the Gamecocks responded with a 14-2 run to take their largest lead to that point at 42-31.

The Tigers pulled within six points, 44-38, on a pair of free throws by Chase Hunter with 9:37 to play, but that's as close as Clemson would get.

--Field Level Media