Men's Basketball . November 10, 2019

South Carolina Handles Wyoming, 66-32

by By: David Cloninger | Associated Press

Gamecocks held the Cowboys to lowest point total in the Frank Martin era

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — AJ Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard scored 12 points each, Jair Bolden had 11 and South Carolina dominated Wyoming defensively in a 66-32 win on Sunday.

The Gamecocks (2-0) buried the Cowboys with five 3-pointers in the first eight minutes and a suffocating defense throughout. It was the fewest points USC allowed since 2005 and is the fewest field goals allowed in coach Frank Martin’s eight-year tenure.

Cowboys guard Hunter Maldonado had 32 points in his season-opener but with South Carolina redshirt sophomore Justin Minaya guarding him most of the game, was held to 10. Minaya, who missed all but five games last year due to a knee injury, blanketed Maldonado and also scored three points with four rebounds and three assists.

The Cowboys (1-1) shot 23 percent from the field.

KEY STATS
> South Carolina’s defense held Wyoming to just 32 points, the lowest opponent total in the Frank Martin era (2012-present). The previous low was set when the Gamecocks limited Longview to 44 points (11/9/13).
> The Cowboys nine made field goals were also the lowest total in the Martin era, surpassing Michigan (10 FGs, 11/23/16).

NOTABLES
> Redshirt freshman Jermaine Couisnard (12) and redshirt sophomore Alanzo Frink (10) both tallied the first career, double-figure scoring outputs in Garnet and Black.
> Sophomore AJ Lawson notched 11 of his 12 points in the first half.
> The Gamecocks knocked down nine 3s after making just two shots from downtown in the season-opening win vs. North Alabama (11/6) earlier this week.
> Carolina used an 18-1 run midway through the first half to push the lead to 23, 31-8, with 8:01 on the clock. The Gamecocks led by 20 or more the final 19:33 after holding Wyoming scoreless for nearly the first eight minutes of the second half.
> In two games, the South Carolina defense has held its opponents to just 24 percent shooting from the floor (24-for-100) and 13.8 percent (4-for-29) from behind the arc.

UP NEXT
South Carolina continues its home stand on Friday when it hosts Cleveland State for a 7 p.m. ET matchup at Colonial Life Arena. The contest will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and the Gamecock Radio Network.

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