MBB: Gamecocks rout Vols 84-58
*** Photo gallery by Chris Gillespie ***
South Carolina beat Tennessee 84-58 Wednesday night at Colonial Life Arena. Duane Notice scored 17 points and Michael Carrera had another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
There is an adage in college basketball that says you have to win the first four minutes and last four minutes of each half. Allowing for a bit of a mistimed run in the final four minutes, South Carolina executed that strategy perfectly.
Tennessee scored the first basket of the game on a goaltend by Carrera, but South Carolina scored the next 11 points to take early control of the game. Mindaugas Kacinas scored four points during the run as South Carolina got the ball inside early and often.
The Volunteers answered with a 9-2 run to close the gap, but they never got over the hump as neither defense did much to slow the other team. The Gamecocks shot just under 60 percent for the half, and the Volunteers shot 46 percent. The Gamecocks finished the half with a 11-3 run behind three threes by Duane Notice to take a 49-34 lead into the break. It was the most points the Gamecocks scored in the first half of an SEC game this season.
"I'm confident in my shooting ability whether the shot drops or not," Notice said. "It's just one of those things where the ball felt right coming into my hand and I just wanted to take the best shot possible."
The second half opened the same way, as South Carolina scored the first10 points to take a 25-point lead. Carrera opened the scoring with a fade away jumper, Sindarius Thornwell followed with a pullup shot, and then Carrera added another layup. The Lithuanians, Laimonas Chatkevicius and Kacinas capped off the run with layups.
Furious with his team's effort, Rick Barnes went to the bench. Already down leading scorer Kevin Punter, Barnes did not play starters Robert Hubbs or Detrick Mostella at all in the second half. But the reserves gave Tennessee a jolt. South Carolina relaxed a little, and Tennessee went on a 14-2 run as South Carolina settled for jump shots. After Armani Moore scored a jumper to cut the lead to 13, Barnes called a timeout. It ended up swinging momentum.
"We told the guys, let's see if we can get it down to nine or ten and put some pressure on them," Barnes said. "By that time there were certain guys I wasn't going to put back in the game. I would have suited up and played before I put them back in."
"Stop with the bad decisions, stop with the pouting, and re-engage," USC head coach Frank Martin told his team. "We got real lazy for a little window there offensively. We made some poor decisions on shot selection and we had some bad turnovers."
The Gamecocks listened and immediately went inside. Chris Silva scored a layup and then Chatkevicius hit a short jumper. Notice attacked the rim setting up Kacinas, who was fouled and made both free throws. Notice made a pair, and then Carrera, Kacinas, and Carrera again hit three consecutive threes to complete the end of game 17-0 run.
South Carolina outscored Tennessee 42-14 in points in the paint, and the rest of the offense followed. South Carolina shot 40 percent from three and got open look after open look en route to shooting 52 percent from the floor. Martin praised the team for playing "good offense," and Chatkevicius, who scored 12 points, said that in practice the post players knew the burden is on them to get the offense going.
"We didn't really think about (Tennessee)," Chatkevicius said. "We worked on us."
Notes:
Freshman guard John Ragin missed his fifth straight game due to illness. ... Marcus Stroman, Raymond Doby, and Jarrell Holliman also missed the game due to flu-like symptoms. ... PJ Dozier set a career-high with six assists, all in the first half. ... Fellow freshman Silva finished with nine points and nine rebounds. ... Thornwell only scored seven points, but he was efficient, dishing out six assists and grabbing four rebounds. ... Kacinas scored 11 points. ... Attendance was 13,224. South Carolina returns to action Saturday at Mississippi State.
