Mostafa, Coastal Carolina upset South Carolina 80-56

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — Essam Mostafa had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Coastal Carolina pulled away in the second half to upset South Carolina 80-56 on Wednesday night.

It was Coastal Carolina’s first win against a Power Five opponent since beating Utah early in the 2019-20 season.

The Chanticleers had a one-point halftime lead and opened the second on a 24-4 run and cruised from there. Mostafa scored 12 points during the stretch.

Mostafa, a sophomore center from Cairo, Egypt, was 6 of 13 from the field and 11-of-16 shooting at the free-throw line. He entered averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field. It was his third double-double of the season.

South Carolina pulled to 64-52 with 8:21 remaining. Mustafa’s layup and consecutive dunks from Vince Cole and Wilfried Likayi pushed the Chanticleer’s lead to 18 with 4:42 to play.
Rudi Williams added 19 points and six assists for the Chanticleers (3-2). Cole finished with 16 points.

Erik Stevenson scored 12 points and Jacobi Wright had 11 for the Gamecocks (5-2), which ended a four-game win streak while playing in Conway for the first time. The Gamecocks shot 19% (6 of 32) from the floor and had nine turnovers in the second half.

South Carolina forward Josh Gray was ejected with 1.6 seconds remaining in the game for shoving a CCU player.

Coast Carolina beat the Gamecocks for the second time – an 88-74 victory in Columbia in 1993.

KEY STATS
> South Carolina shot just 28.6 percent (20-for-70) from the floor, including just 18.8 percent (6-for-32) in the second half.  
> Coastal held a 25-0 advantage in fast break points.

NOTABLES
> Jacobi Wright had 11 points in his first career start. He was 4-for-8 from the floor, adding four rebounds and a pair of assists.  
> Erik Stevenson was the only other Gamecock in double figures with 12 points. He still is yet to miss a free throw this season (18-for-18) after going 4-for-4 at the line tonight.
> South Carolina was without Jermaine Couisnard for the first time this season tonight. He came into the game averaging a team-best 13.5 points per game.

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena for a Sunday matchup with Georgetown. The meeting is the sixth all-time between the Gamecocks and Hoyas, and the first since the 2004-05 campaign. Sunday’s matchup will be broadcast on the SEC Network at 2 p.m. (ET) with Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) on the call.

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