Nov. 20, 2005

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

Columbia, S.C. – The University of South Carolina men’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 85-73 victory over Toledo, 0-1, on Sunday at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks were led by senior forward Tarence Kinsey who had a career high 24 points.

In the first half, South Carolina shot 65.4% from the floor to take a 50-29 lead into the locker room. Carolina recorded 24 of their 50 first half points from behind the arc.

Antoine Tisby put the Gamecocks up 59-40 in the second half but Carolina went cold as they went nearly nine minutes without scoring a bucket. During that period, the Rockets went on a 14-0 run to cut the Carolina lead to five with 7:12 remaining in the game.

The Gamecocks and Rockets would then go on exchanging buckets over the next two and half minutes before Toledo’s Sammy Villegas hit a three to cut the Carolina lead to four with 4:19 remaining. The four point margin would be the closest the Rockets would get as Carolina went on an eight to three run to extend their lead to nine with a minute remaining. Kinsey sealed the deal for USC as he hit six free throws in the final minute to preserve the Carolina victory.

Other top scorers for Carolina was Renaldo Balkman who scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Tre’ Kelley finished with 15 points and five assists.

The Rockets were led by Florentino Valencia who had 17. Villegas who led the second half charge scored all 15 of his points in the second half on three-pointers. Villegas was five-of-six in the second half from long range after missing all three of his first half three-pointers. Keonta Howell scored 14 while Justin Ingram totaled 11.

Carolina will return to action on Thursday as they play Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Shootout. Tip-off between the Gamecocks and the Seawolves is set for 10 p.m. on ESPN 2.