Gamecocks Handed First Loss, 78-70, by BU

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Boston’s balanced offensive attack was more than enough to counter South Carolina star guard AJ Lawson in a, 78-70, upset victory on Tuesday.
 
The Terriers (3-2) had six players with at least six points, led by Javante McCoy with 17, and consistently whipped the Gamecocks (3-1) on backdoor cuts and outlet passes for uncontested 3-pointers. Lawson scored 22 and was in the middle of nearly every big play but got sparse help from his teammates.
 
The Gamecocks kept settling for 3-pointers despite shooting a mere 31% from long distance coming in. They were 4-of-22 Tuesday and left nine points at the line. 
 
South Carolina allowed 12 offensive rebounds and Boston scored 18 points off them. The Terriers clinched the game with an 11-2 run after it was tied at 60 with seven minutes to go.
 
It was the Terriers first win in program history over an SEC team, although they beat current SEC member Texas A&M in 1986, when the Aggies were in the Southwest Conference.
 
KEY STATS
> South Carolina shot just 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from the floor the second half and was just 1-for-10 from behind the arc.
> The Gamecocks had just eight bench points after averaging 29.3 the first three games of the season.

NOTABLES
> Sophomore guard AJ Lawson had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a team-high 28 minutes.
> Senior big man Maik Kotsar finished with 14 points and seven boards.
> Redshirt sophomore Justin Minaya had 10 points, his first double-figure outing since scoring 17 in the season-opening win vs. North Alabama.

UP NEXT
South Carolina concludes its season-opening home stand on Friday when it hosts Gardner-Webb 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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