Carters lead South Carolina over Army 105-75

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Devin Carter and Chico Carter Jr. combined for 42 points and South Carolina scored a season high in defeating Army 105-75 on Wednesday.

Devin Carter was 8-of-13 shooting in scoring a career-high 22 points. Chico Carter Jr., unrelated to Devin, shot 7 of 13 and made his three 3-point attempts for 20 points. Erik Stevenson added 13 points and Jacobi Wright 11 for the Gamecocks (9-3), who shot 59%, making 8 of 15 3-point tries.

Josh Caldwell scored 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and Jalen Rucker and Chris Mann added 12 each for the Black Knights (6-6). Army shot 40% and made 9 of 18 from the arc but gave up 29 points off turnovers and was outscored by 20 in the paint. They had eight shots blocked.

South Carolina took control late in the first half, leading by 18 at the break. The lead never dipped below 16 in the second half with the Gamecocks going up by as many as 32. It was the second time in three games the Gamecocks scored over 100 points, the other coming against NCAA Division II-member Allen.

Army held an early lead for seven minutes of the first half before matters unraveled for the Black Knights with the Gamecocks shooting 67% and scoring 23 points off 12 Army turnovers to lead 61-43.

This was only the second meeting between the programs. Army defeated South Carolina 59-45 in the quarterfinals of the 1969 NIT at Madison Square Garden.

The Gamecocks host South Carolina State on Dec. 29. Army opens Patriot League play against Loyola (Maryland) on Jan. 1.

Key Stats
– South Carolina connected on 41 of its 70 attempts from the field, 58.6 percent.  That is the second-highest field goal percent this season, second to the 59.6 percent in the win over Wofford.
– The 41 makes from the floor mark the second-most in the Frank Martin era, behind only the 45 made field goals in the win over Allen earlier this season.

Notables
– South Carolina’s 61 points in the first half marked the first 60+ point half for the Gamecocks since scoring 65 in the second half of the NCAA Tournament upset win over Duke on March 19, 2017.
– Devin Carter scored a season high 22 points behind eight makes from the field, and a 5-of-6 performance at the free throw line.  Carter is averaging 9.7 points per game this season.
– Junior guard Chico Carter Jr. posted his second-straight 20-point outing, scoring a team high 21 at Clemson, and hitting 7-of-13 attempts from the floor en route to 20 points today vs. Army.
– Carter Jr. was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc vs. Army.  He has hit 9-of-17 3-point attempts this season, 52.9 percent.
– Carolina scored a season high 29 points off of 18 Army turnovers.  Every Gamecock opponent this season has committed at least 14 turnovers.
– The Gamecocks blocked eight Army shot attempts in the win, including two each from Keyshawn Bryant and Ja’Von Benson.
– Today’s point total of 105 marks the second time this season that South Carolina has scored over 100 points.  It’s the first time since the 1995-96 campaign that Carolina has scored 100+ multiple times in a season.

Coming Up Next
– South Carolina is off for Christmas and will return to action Dec. 29 for the non-conference finale against SC State. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. (ET) at Colonial Life Arena with Dave Weinstein and John Williams on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.