Dec 2, 2002

Box Score?|? Quotes

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Carlos Powell tied a career-high with 20 points as South Carolina beat Temple 66-47 on Monday night.

The Gamecocks (4-0) started off sluggish but pulled away from a young Temple team during the middle of the second half. Chuck Eidson and Rolando Howell each added 12 points.

The Owls, who are starting three freshman, have now lost their first three games for the first time since 1988.

Nile Murry had 12 points and Maurice Collins 10 to lead the Owls, who shot just 19 percent from 3-point range compared to South Carolina’s 36 percent.

The Gamecocks also outrebounded the Owls 39-27.

The teams stayed close until South Carolina started a 16-4 run midway through the second half by pounding the ball inside.

The Gamecocks lead grew past 10 when Howell was fouled after a slam dunk and hit the free throw to give South Carolina a 48-36 lead.

Powell had a thunderous dunk driving the baseline with 4:09 to go that put South Carolina ahead 14, then Jarod Gerald brought the Carolina Center crowd to its feet when he saved a loose ball from going out of bounds and found Powell underneath the basket for another slam that gave the Gamecocks a 52-38 lead.

Temple’s matchup zone had stifled the Gamecocks in the first half, and the Owls went on a 14-0 run over 6? minutes to take a 16-9 lead.

Temple would lead by five with 2:30 left in the half before Eidson capped a 9-0 run with a layup and 3-pointer to give South Carolina a 23-19 halftime advantage.

The sluggish tone for the game was set early with the teams shooting a combined 1-for-9 from the field with seven turnovers in the opening four minutes.

This is the second game of a school-record six-game road trip for the Owls, who face Charlotte on Wednesday and lost to Wake Forest 83-76 on Sunday night.

South Carolina was without center Tony Kitchings for a second game. The senior had two screws put into his broken left hand Monday and may return to action in a month, athletics spokesman Kerry Tharp said.