WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

01/17 19:48 CST Filip Jovic's career-high 23 points power Auburn in 71-67 win over South Carolina Filip Jovic's career-high 23 points power Auburn in 71-67 win over South Carolina AUBURN, Ala. (AP) --- Filip Jovic scored a career-high 23 points and Auburn held off a last-minute rally by South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 71-67 on Saturday night. Auburn led by six at halftime and held the lead throughout the second half. Back-to-back dunks by Sebastian Williams-Adams and Jovic gave the Tigers their first double-digit lead of the game, 60-49 with about 5 minutes remaining. Two free throws by Mike Sharavjamts and a driving layup by Kobe Knox had the Gamecocks within 62-57 with 1:20 remaining before Kevin Overton's 3-pointer put Auburn up 65-57 with 53 seconds left. USC got within three points twice, the second time on a layup by Sharavjamts with 17 seconds remaining. After a pair of free throws from Keyshawn Hall, USC's Meechie Johnson buried a 3-pointer to make it 69-67 with four seconds remaining. Overton then made two free throws to seal the win. Jovic, a freshman from Bosnia & Herzegovina, made 9 of 12 shots and 5 of 8 free throws in his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season. KeShawn Murphy and Williams-Adams scored 11 points each for the Tigers (11-7, 2-3 SEC), who beat South Carolina for the 10th straight time. Johnson scored 17 points, Sharavjamts 13, Knox 12 and Elijah Strong 10 for South Carolina (10-8, 1-4). Although the Tigers missed seven of their first eight shots they still led 12-8 eight minutes into the game. A 3-pointer by Johnson had South Carolina within 21-19 but Tahaad Pettiford and Jovic converted three-point plays to push the margin to eight points. Auburn led 30-24 at halftime.

Up next South Carolina: Hosts Oklahoma on Tuesday. Auburn: Plays Tuesday at Mississippi. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball