Sindarius Thornwell scored 28 points to lead No. 19 South Carolina to a 77-73 victory over Mississippi State in a Southeastern Conference game on Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.

Chris Silva contributed 15 points for South Carolina (20-5, 10-2 SEC), which was coming off a quadruple-overtime loss to Alabama. Maik Kotsar had 10 points and five rebounds.

The Gamecocks won despite being outshot and outrebounded.

"We couldn't guard them, so we had to go zone," South Carolina coach Frank Martin told reporters. "Luckily, we hung on for dear life."

Tyson Carter came off the bench to score 22 points for Mississippi State (14-10, 5-7), which has not beaten a ranked opponent since upsetting Arizona in 2011. Mario Kegler added 16 points and Xavian Stapleton had 11.

"That was a disappointing loss because we had a great opportunity to beat a very good basketball team," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. "I was proud of our effort and our toughness."

South Carolina trailed by one with just over five minutes to play, but the Gamecocks took the lead on a 3-pointer by Duane Notice. That basket started a 9-0 run that helped them escape with the win.

South Carolina kept pace with Florida and Kentucky in the SEC standings. The three teams remained tied for first place.

Thornwell scored all 10 South Carolina points in the first three minutes to help his team jump out to a 10-2 lead. The Gamecocks went up 14-5 on two free throws by Thornwell, but the Bulldogs battled back to tie the score after back-to-back 3-pointers by Eli Wright and Kegler.

Mississippi State later took a 22-17 lead on a layup by Carter and went up 31-24 on a 3-pointer by Carter.

The Gamecocks outscored the Bulldogs 12-5 in the final 3:08 and tied the score on a 3-pointer by Justin McKie with four seconds remaining.

Mississippi State shot 52 percent and made eight 3-pointers in the opening half, but 10 turnovers prevented the Bulldogs from carrying a lead into the break.

Thornwell, recently named to the watch list for the Naismith Men's College Player of the Year award after scoring a career-high 44 points against Alabama, finished the first half with 19 points for the Gamecocks. Carter had 16 for the Bulldogs.

South Carolina started the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 43-36 lead on a layup by Silva, but Mississippi State responded with an 8-1 run to tie.

The Gamecocks re-established a seven-point lead on a 3-pointer by McKie, but the Bulldogs came back to go ahead 56-54 on Stapleton's 3-pointer midway through the half.

The game remained close until Notice made a 3-pointer to spark the decisive run that put South Carolina up 72-64 with just under three minutes remaining.

South Carolina shot 50 percent from the field, made 6 of 15 from 3-point range and went to the free-throw line 29 times, although the Gamecocks converted only 17 of those opportunities.

Mississippi State shot 52.9 percent, made 11 of 27 from beyond the arc and outrebounded South Carolina 31-28, but the Bulldogs committed 19 turnovers and attempted only 12 free throws.

Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State's leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting.

NOTES: South Carolina has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2004-2006. ... The Gamecocks have won 10 games in the SEC for just the fifth time in 26 years since joining the conference. ... Mississippi State is 19-13 in the series against South Carolina and has a 10-4 record against the Gamecocks at home. ... The Bulldogs have lost 16 in a row against ranked opponents.