South Carolina improves to 3-0 as freshmen trio provides big lift off the bench Wednesday night

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Mike Sharavjamts scored 13 points to lead four in double-figure scoring, and South Carolina jumped out to an early lead and beat Presbyterian 81-61 on Wednesday night.

Grant Polk scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for South Carolina (3-0). Jordan Butler and Myles Stute added 11 points apiece. Eli Ellis and Meechie Johnson each chipped in with nine points.

The Gamecocks had a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led 41-22 at the break. Polk made three 3s to pace the Gamecocks. Pierce scored 12 first-half point for the Blue Hose.

Stute’s 3-pointer followed by a Johnson layup gave South Carolina its largest lead, 73-39, with about 10 minutes to play.

Jonah Pierce scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Presbyterian (3-2). Carl Parrish added 15 points and Chidi Chiakwelu had 11. Jaylen Peterson grabbed 11 rebounds.

Each team shot 42% from the floor but South Carolina hit 8 of 25 (32%) from distance, while Presbyterian missed all eight of its attempts from long range.

KEY STATS

• South Carolina jumped out to a big lead in the first half thanks to a strong defensive effort. The Gamecocks allowed just 22 points the opening 20 minutes and held the Blue Hose to just 28.1% (9-of-32) from the floor.
• It was another well-rounded team effort for Carolina as four players scored in double-figures and two more added nine points each.

NOTABLES

• Senior transfer guard Mike Sharavjamts led the way with 13 points tonight. He had four rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes. He also led the Gamecocks in +/- at +23. It was Sharavjamts second straight game in double-figures (29^th career).
• Junior forward Jordan Butler scored a career-high 11 points with a career-high seven rebounds and a block in 20 minutes off the bench. The Gamecock reserves had a 36-19 edge over the Blue Hose’s bench.
• Freshman forward Hayden Assemian earned his first career start tonight. He was active with a team-high eight rebounds, five points and two blocks. Six of his eight rebounds came on the offensive glass.
• Freshman guard Eli Ellis continued to impress with nine points and a team-high five assists with no turnovers in 23 minutes.
• Fellow freshman guard Grant Polk led the bench with 12 points as the sharpshooter was 4-of-4 from behind the arc. It marked his first career game in double figures in Garnet and Black.
• Graduate guard Myles Stute had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. It was his first game in double-figures (45^th career) this season (45^th career).
• South Carolina improves to 15-0 under head coach Lamont Paris when scoring 80 or more points. Paris’ teams are 47-4 (.922 win percentage) in his nine seasons as a head coach when scoring more than 80 points.

UP NEXT
South Carolina (3-0) is off the rest of the week before returning home to face Radford (2-1) next Tuesday in an unbracketed game part of the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off. The contest starts at 7 p.m. (ET) with Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.