MBB: Gamecocks fall 78-69 at Tennessee

South Carolina fell 78-69 at Tennessee. Kevin Punter was outstanding for Tennessee, scoring a career-high 36 points.

The Gamecocks trailed by a single point at halftime, but missed a chance to go into the break with the lead when Duane Notice missed a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining. It was a first half that saw both teams struggle to score. At one point the Gamecocks missed 12 straight shots, and both teams shot under 40 percent from the floor.

The second half was a different story, especially for Tennessee. Devon Baulkman and Punter opened the half by making open threes, which was the second half in a nutshell. Frank Martin called a timeout after Punter's three, but South Carolina did not get the message.

The numbers in the second half were staggering, as South Carolina was constantly a step slow defensively. Tennessee shot 50 percent from the floor, but was 9-12 from three and 16-16 from the free throw line. It was not a case of making difficult shots either - Tennessee was getting wide open looks as South Carolina failed to rotate defensively.

Unlike the last game against Ole Miss, when Stefan Moody scored 24 points but had to make difficult, contested shots to do so, Punter scored because he was never challenged. Punter scored 27 of his points in the second half and went 5-7 from the floor, including 5-6 from behind the arc. He also was a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line.

Despite being severely undersized, Tennessee held its own inside. The teams were even with 34 rebounds each, and Tennessee got to the line 32 times, making 30.

Michael Carrera led the Gamecocks with 22 points and eight rebounds. Notice and Chris Silva added 14 and 11 off the bench. But the Gamecocks have to be concerned with the play of Sindarius Thornwell.

Thornwell scored just two points on a layup in the final minute of the game. He went 1-8 shooting and failed to grab a rebound. Thornwell did have four assists, but also had five turnovers. He was content to shoot jump shots, and seldom attacked the rim. Not only does that not play to his strengths, but it limits the rest of the Gamecocks, since so much of the offense is based off his ability to get into the lane and create. Over the last two games, both on the road, Thornwell is 2-23 shooting from the floor and 3-10 from the free throw line.