Prior to Sunday, there weren't too many people who believed that South Carolina could pull off an upset against duke. And why would there be? Duke was filled with NBA talent, including projected lottery pick Jayson Tatum. How could a team from the SEC, ever compete with a team like Duke that was looking to win its 6th national championship in the Coach K era? South Carolina believed it could happen, and proved it on the court with an impressive performance.

South Carolina Defeats Duke.

The Gamecocks won 88-81 thanks to a huge effort from star player Sindarius Thornwell, who scored 24 points.

He was helped by Notice and Silva, who each scored 17 points. And in the waning moments, Felder remained comfortable and made sure the team didn't turn the ball over multiple times to secure the victory.

For Duke, turnovers and fouls were the story. Despite 16 turnovers in the first half, Duke remained in the lead. In the second half, those turnovers caught up with them and they struggled to come back once South Carolina got the lead. Foul trouble for star Luke Kennard prevented the team from getting back into it with threes, and Grayson Allen couldn't hit enough shots to bring Duke back.

A rowdy crowd rooting for South Carolina also helped the team to defeat Duke. Even fans who had no relation to UofSC started rooting against Duke and for a school that took down one of the traditional powerhouses much earlier than expected.

An Unexpected Result.

Media outlets reporting that Duke would easily make the Final Four with Duke gone from the region were instantly proven wrong with the final result on Sunday. USA Today was one of those outlets, and South Carolina's Twitter account made sure everyone knew about it.

Frank Martin's Gamecocks played one of their best games and proved the nation and every media outlet that had Duke winning it all wrong.

They even proved Vegas wrong, who had Duke pegged as a 6.5 point favorite, prior to the start of the game. Will South Carolina continue this incredible run? They'll take on a very tough and physical Baylor team next.
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