Dec. 22, 2015

Final Stats

UNCASVILLE, CT. — The South Carolina Gamecock men’s basketball team ran its season record to 11-0 Tuesday night, defeating St. John’s 75-61. The game was played at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout. Led by a season-best performance from Duane Notice, the Gamecocks overcame an early deficit to earn their first win ever against the Red Storm (7-6).

St. John’s would shoot its way out to an early lead, and held it for most of the first ten minutes of the game. The early advantage would grow to six, 13-7, before the Gamecocks clicked into tempo on offense. A 5-of-7 stretch from the 13:44 mark until 9:25 would turn that six-point deficit into Carolina’s first lead of the day, 20-18. Duane Notice accounted for seven of the team’s first 16 points and finished with 14 in the first half on a perfect 5-of-5 performance from the floor.

Carolina’s defense would also find its feet for a key stretch, holding St. John’s without a made basket for 6:28, allowing the Gamecocks to reel off a 15-1 run and take their biggest lead so far at 31-19. The Johnnies came off the mat for six-straight baskets following the cold spell and got into single digits before the buzzer at 40-34. Despite a 3-of-10 success rate from 3-point range, St. John’s more than made up for it with an 11-of-16 clip from inside.

The hot streak to end the first half would not carry over for the Red Storm, as a pair of early turnovers pushed Carolina’s lead back into the double digits and forced a timeout just a minute into the half. The lead would get no closer than eight points for the Gamecocks, who slowly would pull permanently into a double-digit lead for the final nine minutes of the game.

Michael Carrera would lead the way down the stretch, scoring eight points with seven rebounds in his 15 minutes of action in the second half. Laimonas Chatkevicius added seven second-half points to push him into double figures for the game, his first game with 10 or more points since Nov. 27 against Lipscomb. Behind 14 second-half turnovers forced and 20 points in the paint, South Carolina would push the lead up to 18 before settling on the final margin.

GAMECHANGER

After a St. John’s field goal gave it a 18-16 lead with 10:13 left to play in the first half, South Carolina would hold it without another basket for the next 6:28, allowing just one made free throw in what would be a 15-1 run. The Johnnies missed five field goals and six free throw attempts during the Gamecock run.

KEY STAT

St. John’s struggled mightily from the free throw line and behind the 3-point line in the game. Despite attempting eight more free throws, the Red Storm made two fewer than South Carolina. From deep, the Johnnies attempted seven more 3-pointers but also made two fewer than the Gamecocks.

UP NEXT

South Carolina returns to Columbia to host Francis Marion on Dec. 30. The contest will be the first all-time between the two schools. The matchup will be broadcast on SEC Network+ with Andy Demetra (pxp) and Alex English (analyst) on the call.

NOTABLE

• South Carolina entered 22-32 against current Big East members, with a win already this season over DePaul. The Gamecocks were 0-4 against St. John’s coming into Tuesday night.
• Tonight was the sixth time this season that the Gamecocks scored 40 points in the first half of a game. Carolina accomplished this feat just three times in the 2014-15 season.
• Michael Carrera’s double double was the seventh of his career. He now has scored in double figures in eight straight games, five of those games with 15 or more points.
• Duane Notice recorded his fifth career 20-point game Tuesday night, Carolina now has three different players to crack 20 in a game this season (with Laimonas Chatkevicius, Mindaugas Kacinas).
• St. John’s 44 percent night from the charity stripe was the lowest by a Gamecock opponent since Florida shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) on Jan. 30, 2013.

TWEET OF THE GAME