No matter what Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard tried, he could do little to stop the onslaught.

He tinkered with his rotation. He called a timeout after a blown assignment. He tried different groupings of personnel. It didn't matter.

South Carolina just kept raining first-half buckets on the Rebels, building up a double-digit cushion for the hosts that a blistering run by the Rebels in the second half couldn't fully erase. The result was a 68-65 Ole Miss defeat on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The first half was the kind of 3-point performance from the Gamecocks (20-3, 8-2 SEC) that renders just about everything the opposition does meaningless. South Carolina was 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, shooting 62% overall in the first 20 minutes to carry a 43-31 lead into the break.

The Rebels clamped down defensively in the second half. But the damage was insurmountable.

Ole Miss' offensive showing was adequate, especially on the road, shooting 50.9% from the field and getting a sparkling performance from forward Allen Flanigan, who cashed in on 11 of his 15 attempts for 26 points. The game's slow pace limited the scoring totals, but the Rebels were efficient enough to win the game.

But the Rebels (18-5, 5-5), who made just four 3-pointers, had no reply to the volume of the Gamecocks. Forward Myles Stute drained four 3-pointers. Ta'lon Cooper, one of the most efficient shooters in the SEC, added two. Five Gamecocks made at least one shot from range.

Ole Miss' calls for defensive improvement meet mixed results

For Ole Miss, the first half marked a troubling return to form when it comes to defending on the road.

Prior to a strong defensive showing that led to a valuable victory at Texas A&M, the Rebels had allowed their first three SEC road foes to shoot at least 47%, giving up an average of 87 points in those games.

Ole Miss had been much better defensively at home, where it was unbeaten until a loss to Auburn on Saturday. In that game, the Tigers hung 91 points on the Rebels and made eight of their 19 3-point attempts. Beard criticized every layer of Ole Miss' defensive shell postgame, noting that the Rebels had to hold themselves accountable for the performance.

FULL UPDATES: Ole Miss basketball live score updates vs South Carolina: Rebels take on Gamecocks

What he saw early Tuesday was likely not the response he had in mind, but Ole Miss was much better late in the game. It got strong rim protection from the returning Jamarion Sharp, and held the Gamecocks under 35% from the field in the second half.

"No adjustments, just trying to get back to what the original game plan was supposed to be," Beard said when asked about the second-half changes. "This is a hard offense to guard because they play with patience. They'll work that clock all the way to the end."

Ole Miss' comeback attempt falls short

On the back of its 3-point shooting, South Carolina opened up a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game, and the Rebels spent the rest of the first half fighting to stay close as the Gamecocks drained bucket after bucket.

It appeared as though the Rebels might be headed for a blowout loss when South Carolina opened up a 17-point advantage in the opening stages of the second half.

Ole Miss applied some game pressure on their hosts by outscoring them 23-9 over the next eight-plus minutes, but the Rebels never could fully erase the impact of their poor defensive showing in the first half.

They trimmed the South Carolina lead to two points with 7:03 left, but never got any closer. The Rebels had the ball down three with a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Matthew Murrell's wild 3-pointer didn't go, and the Rebels didn't get the foul call Beard wanted.

Up next

Ole Miss has a week off before it travels to Lexington to play Kentucky next Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPN).

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss basketball comeback falls short at South Carolina