Bench helps lead Gamecocks to 87-58 win over Radford

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Elijah Strong and Eli Ellis combined for 29 points off the bench to lead South Carolina (4-0), 87-58, over Radford (2-4) on Tuesday.

Strong had 15 on 7-of-10 shooting, while Ellis scored 14, going 5-for-8 and making all four of his free throw attempts. Mike Sharavjamts notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

It’s the fourth consecutive game that the Gamecocks have scored 81 points or more to start the season. The result extended their record to 16-0 under fourth-year head coach Lamont Paris when scoring 80 points or more.

South Carolina started the game on a 7-0 run and never trailed, though Radford leveled with its own seven-point run. An 8-0 run later in a 40-25 first half — with scores from Strong, Ellis and Sharavjamts — extended the lead to 10, and it never got closer than seven from that point on.

Del Jones had 16 points for the Highlanders, shooting 6-for-15. Dennis Parker Jr.’s 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting made him the only other player in double figures for a Highlanders team that was 31% from the field and 29% from 3-point territory.

KEY STATS

• All 12 Gamecocks who appeared in the game scored a bucket with senior guard Eli Sparkman hitting a late 3 for his first points of the season. Eight of the 12 Carolina players who saw action tonight recorded a double-digit positive plus/minus.
• It was another team effort offensively with 22 assists on 34 made field goals. Nine different players recorded an assist with redshirt senior guards Meechie Johnson and Kobe Knox leading the way with five helpers each.
• Carolina outscored Radford 48-16 in the paint, and the Gamecock bench accounted for 50 of the team’s 87 points.

NOTABLES .

• Graduate guard Myles Stute opened the game with a three-pointer to surpass the 1,000-point mark in his career. He finished with nine points total, entering tonight with 998 career points.
• Junior transfer forward Elijah Strong led the team with a season-high 15 points on efficient 7-of-10 (70.0%) from the floor. He added three rebounds, two assists and a block in 18 minutes.
• Freshman guard Eli Ellis continued his solid play leading the Carolina backcourt with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes off the bench.
• Senior transfer guard Mike Sharavjamts recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, nine of which came on the defensive end.
• Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox had 10 points, five assists (tied for team high), two rebounds and a steal.
• Freshman guard Grant Polk had eight points, hitting a pair of 3s. He’s 7-of-13 from distance on the season, leading the team with a 53.8% shooting clip from behind the arc.
• Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson led the team in +/-, finishing +22 in 26 minutes of action.
• South Carolina improves to 16-0 under head coach Lamont Paris when scoring 80 or more points. Paris’ teams are 48-4 (.923 win percentage) in his nine seasons as a head coach when scoring more than 80 points.
• The Gamecocks went 34-of-59 from the floor, good for a 57.6% shooting clip. The 34 made field goals and the 57.6% shooting are both new highs in the Paris era in Columbia which previously were set in the historic 2023-24 season.
• Carolina improves to 12-1 under Paris when shooting 50.0% or greater from the floor over the last four seasons with tonight’s victory. The Gamecocks were 27-of-34 (79.4%) on their 2-point field goal attempts tonight against the Highlanders.
• The Gamecocks are 7-0 (2-0 this season) under Paris when dishing out 20 or more assists.

UP NEXT
South Carolina (4-0) hits the road for the first time this season heading to West Virginia to play in the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off. Games will be played in a ball room onsite at the historic mountain resort. The Gamecocks will first face Butler (3-1) on Friday at 2 p.m.(ET) followed by a 5 p.m. tilt with Northwestern (4-0) on Sunday. Both games will air on CBS Sports Network with Jack Benjamin (pxp) and Anne O’Neil on the call.