Gamecocks Fall at No. 11/13 Tennessee
South Carolina Athletics
Carolina outscored 47-19 in second half against Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead No. 11 Tennessee to an 85-45 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night.
James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, hit 4 of 7 3-pointers for the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). Jahmai Mashack scored 14 points, Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and 11 assists, and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic scored 10 each.
eHayden Brown led the Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13) with 18 points. GG Jackson II scored five points, 10 below his average.
A 22-4 Tennessee run in the second half turned a competitive game into a lopsided one. The Gamecocks were the 12th Tennessee opponent held under 50 points.
Tennessee dominated the first half down low. The Vols outscored South Carolina 26-14 in the paint and led 38-26 at halftime. James had 10 points for Tennessee and Brown led the Gamecocks with 13.
KEY STAT
- Tennessee received 37 points from their bench and recorded 29 assists on 36 made baskets. They dominated inside with a 46-24 points in the paint advantage.
NOTABLES
- Hayden Brown led South Carolina with a game-high 18 points on 50.0 percent shooting. It marks Brown’s 17th game this season scoring in double figures and his fourth game leading the team in scoring.
- Josh Gray led the Gamecocks with 10 rebounds (including four offensive boards on the first possession of the game). It marks his seventh game with double-digit rebounds. Six of the seven 10 or more rebound performances have come in league action.
- Jacobi Wright led Carolina with three assists. It is his ninth game this season leading the team in assists.
- Cleveland, Tenn., native Eli Sparkman returned to his home state and logged a season-high 10 minutes for Carolina. He scored three points, knocking down a shot from behind the arc for the second straight game.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13 SEC) remain on the road with another tough matchup at Mississippi State (19-10, 7-9 SEC) on Tuesday night. It will be another late night 9 p.m. (ET) tip for Carolina with Mike Morgan (pxp) and Ron Slay (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.
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