Martin wins 100th game with Carolina, USC bests Western Michigan again

CONWAY, S.C. (WOLO) – Carolina men’s basketball bounced back from their tournament-opening loss Thursday to finish their run in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on a two-game win streak.

The Gamecocks beat Western Michigan for the second time this week Sunday, bucking the Broncos 79-66 in the event’s fifth-place game.

Chris Silva and Wes Myers each scored a team-high 14 points. Each also tied Felipe Hasse and Hassani Gravett with five rebounds. Gravett led USC with six assists.

The Gamecocks (4-1) led 35-34 at the break, but upped their defensive intensity to harass the Broncos into mistakes. South Carolina ran off 14 unanswered points during a 17-1 run while holding Western Michigan without a basket for nearly 8 1/2 minutes.

That turned a one-point edge into a 57-40 margin on Kory Holden’s 3-pointer with 10:02 left. South Carolina led by double figures from there.

Thomas Wilder scored 15 points to lead Western Michigan (2-3), which committed 22 turnovers that led to 28 points for the Gamecocks. Bryce Moore tied a career-high with four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

It was the second time the Gamecocks had beaten Western Michigan this week. They won 78-60 at home Monday, then won in Conway after the tournament was relocated due to hurricane damage in Puerto Rico.

KEY STAT

The Gamecocks defense was outstanding again on Sunday at the HTC Center, forcing a season-high 22 turnovers which led to 28 points.

NOTABLE

• With the victory this afternoon, head coach Frank Martin now has 100 career victories. He’s in his sixth season in Columbia and joins elite company, becoming the fifth coach all-time in program history to notch 100 career wins at the University of South Carolina.
• Wesley Myers tied for the team lead with Chris Silva with 14 points. The graduate transfer scored his 1,000th career point with a fast break layup midway through the first half.
• Graduate transfer Frank Booker had 11 points, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers. He’s now made three 3s in four of the team’s first five games.
• Redshirt junior point guard Hassani Gravett led the team with six assists. Through 10 games, Gravett led the tournament with 20 assists tallying a career-high nine in the team’s blowout victory over UTEP on Friday morning.
• Talented freshman big man Felipe Haase (10) joined Myers, Silva and Booker in double figures. Four players have scored in double figures in each of the team’s four wins this season.
• Western Michigan’s leading scorer, Thomas Wilder had just two turnovers all season heading into today’s contest. The Gamecocks forced him to cough up the ball 10 times Sunday.
• After a tight, back-and-forth first half, South Carolina went a 12-0 run to build a double-digit lead. The Gamecocks held the Broncos scoreless for nearly six minutes in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

UP NEXT

South Carolina has Thanksgiving week off before heading south to Miami to face FIU on Monday, November 27. Tip time is 7 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

The Associated Press and Gamecocks Athletics contributed to this article.