South Carolina 72, Kentucky 67

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina coach Frank Martin snared the best win of his two-year tenure with the Gamecocks on Saturday, holding off Kentucky for a 72-67 home win.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who was ejected with just over 10 minutes to play after getting his second technical foul, wasn’t courtside for the final quarter of perhaps his worst loss in five years as the Wildcats’ coach.

South Carolina held what seemed like an insurmountable lead: 68-61 with less than 30 seconds to go. But shooting guard Aaron Harrison hit a 25-footer with about 27 seconds to go, and the Wildcats stole the inbounds pass. Power forward Julius Randle drove to the basket and made a lay-up through a foul, then sank the free throw to bring the score to 68-67 with 21 seconds left.

But the Gamecocks hit all four of their free-throw attempts in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.

Guard Brent Williams hit 15 of 16 free throws and scored a game-high 24 points for South Carolina (11-18, 4-12 Southeastern Conference). Guard Sindarius Thornwell added 14 points and forward Michael Carrera scored 11.

Harrison led Kentucky (21-8, 11-5) with 21 points, and guard James Young added 19. Randle recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The Wildcats went well over 10 minutes without a field goal at one point. They didn’t make a shot over the final 7:45 of the first half, and the drought ended when center Willie Cauley-Stein’s hook shot with 14:22 to play was goaltended.

Kentucky was active on the offensive glass in the first half against an undersized South Carolina team, but those offensive boards were the only action keeping Kentucky’s offense engaged. The Wildcats missed 19 of their first 24 shots and collected rebounds on 14 of those misses.

The Gamecocks didn’t do much to capitalize on Kentucky’s stagnant offense, but it was enough in the first half. While Kentucky’s offense was stammering, South Carolina occasionally beat the Wildcats back in transition but could not generate much scoring in half-court sets.

South Carolina was 10 of 28 from the floor in the first half, but 4-of-8 3-point shooting propelled the Gamecocks to a 31-28 halftime lead.

With 5:50 left in the first half, South Carolina was setting up its offense and play was blown dead when Calipari was assessed his first technical foul.

NOTES: South Carolina’s last win over Kentucky at home was Jan. 26, 2010. … Kentucky lost consecutive games for the first time this season. … The Wildcats shot 26.9 percent, a season low.