January 24, 2002

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Carlos Powell scored 19 points and Jamel Bradley added 15 Wednesday as South Carolina crushed Tennessee 94-60. The 34-point victory was the largest for USC in the series and was Carolina’s largest margin of victory ever on the road in the SEC.

The Gamecocks (12-6, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) came into the game with the least productive offense in the league, averaging 55.8 points in their first four league games.

They didn’t have much problem scoring on the Volunteers (8-10, 1-4), who dropped to the bottom of the SEC East.

South Carolina had been getting help with its defense, which was leading the SEC in holding league opponents to 60 points a game.

Rolando Howell and Chuck Eidson each had 14 points, and Chris Warren added 10 for the Gamecocks.

Scoring and defense were big problems for Tennessee. In the past week, the Volunteers had beaten then-No. 8 Syracuse and Middle Tennessee.

The Vols continued to miss forward Ron Slay, who was lost for the season over the weekend because of a torn ligament in his knee.

South Carolina was hot from the tipoff, which the Gamecocks won and then immediately scored.

South Carolina led by as many as 22 points in the first half and used a 15-2 run in the first 5+ minutes of the second half to go up by 31 points. Powell’s basket over two Tennessee players in the lane gave the Gamecocks a 63-32 lead.

The Vols couldn’t make any headway en route to their worst game of the season. They beat South Carolina twice last season and had won seven straight regular-season games over the Gamecocks. South Carolina hadn’t won in Knoxville since the 1996-97 season.

Vincent Yarbrough scored 20 points for Tennessee while Brandon Crump and Elgrace Wilborn had 10.

South Carolina made seven of its first eight shots to take a 17-2 lead. Tennessee held South Carolina scoreless for 4 minutes in the first half but only scored twice during the span.

The Gamecocks continued to stretch their lead with four 3-pointers. Powell’s 3 with 8:44 to go gave South Carolina a 31-12 lead.