MBB: Gamecocks beat High Point 88-66

South Carolina beat High Point 88-66 in the first round of the NIT Monday night at the Colonial Life Arena. Laimonas Chatkevicius scored a career-high 30 points to lead South Carolina.

Ninety minutes before the game Frank Martin announced that five players - TeMarcus Blanton, Eric Cobb, Jamall Gregory, Chris Silva, and Marcus Stroman - were suspended for the game. With little depth left, that put the burden squarely on the Gamecocks' starters, all upperclassmen. They answered the bell in a big way.

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On the first three possessions of the game, Chatkevicius won the opening tip, scored a basket, grabbed a defensive rebound, and then scored another basket. The entire team fed off his energy as it raced to leads of 13-3 and 31-13. In building the lead, South Carolina did everything it normally does when it has success. It played physical defense and attacked the rim on both ends of the court. And as soon as South Carolina got away from that, High Point made a run.

With an 18-point lead the Gamecocks started to settle for jump shots. Whether it was comfort or fatigue from having to play so many minutes, the Gamecocks stopped attacking, and the Panthers got hot.

High Point went on a 28-11 run that saw the Panthers make 10 of 11 shots, including six three-pointers. The shots were not all wide open either. Several were contested or well beyond the arc, but they went in and the Panthers closed the gap to 42-41. The Gamecocks scored six of the final eight points of the half to gain a little breathing room going into the break.

Neither team gained an advantage over the first five minutes of the second half. Then Sindarius Thornwell provided a spark and South Carolina took over the game. After a steal, Thornwell was stripped near midcourt. He chased down Haiishen McIntyre to block McIntyre's layup from behind. McIntyre recovered the ball, but threw a pass right to Chatkevicius, who passed the ball to Thornwell. Thornwell went coast-to-coast for a layup and the rout was on.

"Their minds and spirits were pretty good yesterday," Frank Martin said. "They started out that way and then turned the switch off. We figured out a way to turn that switch back on."

Chatkevicius scored on an alley-oop from Thornwell and then a reverse layup. Mindaugas Kacinas scored a layup, and then Chatkevicius slammed home an offensive rebound. Thornwell added a layup, Michael Carrera hit a short jumper in the lane, and then Justin McKie and Thornwell each hit a three. All told, South Carolina scored 20 straight points over seven minutes. The same shots that fell for High Point in the first half kept bouncing out in the second and High Point missed 11 straight shots.

Thornwell had an outstanding all-around game, finishing with 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two blocks. But the game belonged to Chatkevicius. He was aggressive from the start, and took advantage of his size advantage against a team without a player over 6-7. He made 15 of 16 shots, and his only miss came on a short jumper barely 90 seconds into the game. Chetkevicius said he knew after the first two baskets that it was going to be his night.

"Huge credit to the team," he said. "They kept looking for me and I was able to finish."

High Point tried to sag in on defense to stop Chatkevicius, but the smaller players were unable to overcome the size difference.

"We tried to pack it in and play a zone, but they were able to throw it over the top of us and get to the rim," head coach Scott Cherry said. "They did what they needed to do."

Martin would not comment on the five suspended players after the game. He would not reveal why they were suspended, how long the suspensions would be, or if the players would be allowed back on the team this season or in the future, saying "I have no idea."

"No one needs to be speaking about other people's children publicly," Martin said. "They have to understand that this is a special place, and there are certain things that we have to accept when we decide to play, coach, or work here. If you're one of the 13 that accept scholarships to play basketball, you have to realize that basketball is a privilege, it's not a right. No one has a right to play basketball. This is an educational process."

Notes:

In addition to the five suspended players, walk-on guard John Ragin missed the game due to illness. Ragin has not been available since early February, and only played in four games this season. ... High Point head coach Scott Cherry was an assistant at South Carolina for one year under Darrin Horn. ... Austin White led High Point with 15 points. ... Carrera had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but he struggled with his shot. "It's hard to shoot on one leg," Martin said. ... Attendance was 2,566. ... South Carolina will return to action Monday. Time and opponent are to be determined.

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