Silva's Double-Double Leads Gamecocks to, 71-54, Road Win at A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Chris Silva had 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to help South Carolina snap a three-game skid with a 71-54 win over Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

South Carolina (15-15, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) led for the majority of the night and used a big run in the first part of the second half to pull away for good.

The Gamecocks led by 5 at halftime and had pushed the lead to 52-40 after scoring five straight points, capped by a 3 from Silva, with about 15 minutes left.

Wendell Mitchell made four quick points for the Aggies after that. But South Carolina countered with a 10-1 spurt that extended it to 62-45 with about eight minutes remaining and cruised to the victory. Keyshawn Bryant and Hassani Gravett scored three points each in that stretch and Silva capped it with a dunk.

The Gamecocks made 8-of-10 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 3s. It was their second big long-range shooting game against the Aggies this season after they tied a school record by sinking 16 in an 84-77 win on Feb. 16.

Freshman A.J. Lawson led the team with six 3s in that first meeting, but with Lawson out with an ankle injury, Gravett and Silva led the way on Tuesday, making four each.

Texas A&M (13-16, 6-11) got 15 points from Mitchell and 14 from Savion Flagg as it lost for the second time in three games.

The Gamecocks had shot just 36.3 percent from the field during their losing streak, but rediscovered their offense against A&M, making 45 percent of their field goals, including shooting 57 percent on 3s.

Gravett added 17 points with eight assists for South Carolina and Bryant finished with 15 points.

KEY STATS
> South Carolina was extremely efficient on the offensive end, dishing out 20 assists on 25 made FGs. The backcourt duo of Tre Campbell (9) and Hassani Gravett (8) combined for 17 of those.  
> The Gamecock defense held Texas A&M to just 20 points in the second half and 30.4 percent shooting (7-of-23).
> Carolina went 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from behind the arc tonight. In two games against the Aggies this season, the Gamecocks went 29-of-54 (53.7 percent) from 3-point land.
 
NOTABLES
> Senior SEC Player of the Year candidate Chris Silva had 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in 37 minutes of action. It marks the 10^th double-double (25^th career) of the season for the standout senior.
> Silva didn’t miss a shot from downtown, making a career-high four 3s. He has career-highs this season in 3-point FGs (18), 3-point attempts (40) and 3-point percentage (45.0).
> Gravett joined Silva in double-figures with 17 points, knocking down 4-of-7 shots from the 3-point line. It marks the 14^th game of the 2018-19 season he’s made three or more 3s. His eight assists (just one turnover) tonight against the aggies were a season high.
> The SEC Sixth Man of the Year candidate is averaging 13.0 points per game (career-high 11.6 overall) in league play. Gravett has now scored 10 or more 18 times this season.
> Freshman wing Keyshawn Bryant had 15 points in 35 minutes, his second straight game in double-figures.  
> Campbell’s nine assists versus A&M mark a new career-high for the graduate transfer from Georgetown.
> With tonight’s road victory, head coach Frank Martin is now the only coach in program history to win 10 or more SEC games three times.

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena for the regular-season finale and Senior Day on Saturday for a 1 p.m. ET matchup against Georgia. Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) will have the call for the SEC Network broadcast.