Gamecocks: ‘We came to win’

South Carolina center Antoine Tisby couldn’t believe what was happening Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

The former Kansas City Schlagle High standout still was befuddled when he nailed a free throw that completed a three-point play with 2:14 remaining — which not only put the Gamecocks up, 58-57, but sent his mind spinning at the possibility of knocking off the powerhouse team he cheered for while growing up.

“It was kind of surreal. Here we were, up on KU in the final moments, and I thought we might walk out of here with a win,” said the junior Tisby, who, in addition to scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds in 24 minutes, also threw down his first career dunk in front of more than 20 friends and family members.

“But, then, you know … “

If you don’t know, the unranked Gamecocks couldn’t hold on to their late lead against the second-ranked Jayhawks.

After Tisby’s free throw, Wayne Simien slammed back an Aaron Miles miss that gave Kansas the lead for good, and KU claimed a narrow 64-60 victory.

“Not many teams come into Allen Fieldhouse and have the chance to beat them with two minutes to go,” South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. “We did, and we didn’t get it done.”

Not that South Carolina (5-2) didn’t do about everything it possibly could to pull off a stunning victory in its first road game of the season.

The Gamecocks held the Jayhawks to season lows in points (64), field goals (20), field-goal attempts (48), three-pointers (4), three-point field-goal percentage (22.2), defensive rebounds (23) and assists (13), and a tie for a season-low in steals with six.

video 6Sports video: KU survives scareaudio Hear Bill, players: South Carolina postgame commentsphoto Photo Gallery: KU vs. South Carolina<i>” border=”0″/> Get the stats: KU vs. South Carolina box score</a><a href=text Scorecard: Grade KU’s performance against South Carolinatext Other Big 12 scorestext Other NCAA scores</i>” border=”0″/> Robinson to rescue</a><a href=<i>” border=”0″/> Woodling: Makeshift lineup sparks KU victory</a><a href=</i>” border=”0″/> No. 13 suits Wesley</a><a href=<i>” border=”0″/> Gamecocks: ‘We came to win’</a><a href=</i>” border=”0″/> Notebook</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </div> <p>If those stats weren’t lopsided enough, South Carolina started with an 11-0 lead and threatened to nearly blow the Jayhawks out of the legendary fieldhouse.</p> <p>“We made a statement that we didn’t just come to play the game, we came to win the game,” said SC guard Josh Gonner, who scored eight of his 12 points in the first 31/2 minutes when the Gamecocks jumped to their big lead.</p> <p>“We are a good team, and we came to play tonight,” continued Fort Worth, Texas, native Gonner, who also had nearly 20 fans in attendance because he played two seasons at Hutchinson Community College.</p> <p>But Kansas quickly sent its own message in opening the second half with a 12-6 run that cut its deficit to 39-37.</p> <p>“We gave our team certain goals coming into the basketball game, and we accomplished almost every one of those,” said Odom, who earlier in the week said he always had wanted to play in the fieldhouse — and after the game admitted he was just as enamored by the KU crowd and arena as he thought he might be.</p> <p>“The most important thing about this game is that it gives you an immediate shot of adrenaline once you get past the fact that you lost,” Odom said. “If you stay together as a team, and play the game the right way, then you can be good.</p> <p>“We got to take the good from this game and go forward.”</p> <script type=