USC Cruises By Coker For 5th Straight Win

COLUMBIA, S.C. (USC SID) — A reliable inside scoring attack helped lead South Carolina to its fifth-straight win of the season Sunday afternoon, as it defeated Coker College 78-52. The Gamecocks converted on well over half their two-point attempts and scored 50 points in the paint, helping to erase a brief deficit early in the game. The win moves Carolina to 7-3 and marks the first time since the 2012-13 season that the team has enjoyed a win streak this long. The Cobras scored their first five points off of Gamecock turnovers and held a 5-0 upperhand with 16:46 to play, but back-to-back lay-ins from Tyrone Johnson and Duane Notice off Cobra turnovers halted the run. Both teams struggled to maintain possessions through the next several minutes of play, with the Gamecocks having eight turnovers and Coker seven before the under-12 minute media timeout. A 3 from Coker’s Aubrey Daniel knotted the game at 13 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half. The Gamecocks would score eight unanswered to lead 21-13 before a lay-in from Coker’s Jordan Scott stopped the run near the seven-minute mark. Johnson took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast and pushed the Gamecock lead to nine at 30-21 with 2:27 to play, and Notice sank a 3 just before the break for a 35-23 Carolina upperhand at half. Demetrius Henry contributed six points and a blocked shot in the final 3:29 of the half for nine points and two blocks at the break. Notice’s 12 points led the Gamecocks in the opening set, and Scott led Coker with seven points. A pair of lay-ups from Notice and Henry and a 3 from Johnson pushed the Carolina lead to 18 points at 42-24 early in the second half. The team’s traded made baskets, but the Gamecocks began to pull away, leading by 20 with 11:47 to play at 50-30. Carolina would score the next six unanswered, capped by an emphatic breakaway dunk from Sindarius Thornwell. South Carolina led by as many as 27 in the second half, taking advantage of its size in the interior to make 60 percent of its two-point field goals in the final 20 minutes (15-of-25). After the foursome of Laimonas Chatkevicius, Henry, Johnson and Notice joined together to score all 35 of the team’s first-half points, the offense would be evenly distributed over the final 20 minutes. Six different players would score four points or more in the second half. Mindaugas Kacinas shined as the game wore down, collecting seven points and five rebounds in just seven minutes played in the final frame.