Senior forward Michael Carrera had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three steals as South Carolina halted a seven-game losing streak against Florida by recording a 73-69 overtime victory Saturday at Columbia, S.C.

Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell added 17 points as the Gamecocks (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) improved to 14-1 at home. Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas had 14 points and senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius scored 13.

Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for Florida (17-10, 8-6). Sophomore forward Devin Robinson scored a career-best 17 points and sophomore guard Chris Chiozza had 11.

Carrera, who recorded his ninth double-double of the season, hit two free throws with 1:30 left in overtime to give South Carolina at 70-69 lead. Thornwell hit two free throws with 37.5 seconds remaining and the Gators missed the chance to tie it when Chiozza missed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left.

Earlier, Thornwell buried a 3-pointer with 2:28 left in regulation to give the Gamecocks a 62-60 lead but Florida sophomore center John Egbunu converted a three-point play 20 seconds later to give the Gators a one-point edge. Thornwell's fast break gave South Carolina a one-point lead with 30.5 seconds remaining before Finney-Smith split two free throws with 20 seconds left to knot the score 64-64 and force the extra session.

The Gamecocks blew a large first-half lead to help the Gators back in the game. Finney-Smith scored 11 points during a 22-0 burst that erased Florida's 17-point first-half deficit.

Sophomore guard Marcus Stroman hit a jumper to cap a 17-3 run and give the Gamecocks a 30-13 lead with 7:12 left in the first half but they missed their final nine field-goal attempts as Florida scored the final 20 points of the half. Finney-Smith had nine points during the half-ending surge and Robinson's 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left gave the Gators a 33-30 halftime lead.

Finney-Smith knocked down two free throws 12 seconds into the second half to end the spurt and Florida's lead reached 39-32 on a dunk by freshman forward Kevarrius Hayes with 18:17 to play. A short time later, Thornwell made two free throws to culminate a 7-0 run as South Carolina led 43-42 with 11:10 left.