Couisnard scores 20, South Carolina beats Tulsa 69-58

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jermaine Couisnard scored 20 points, AJ Lawson added 17 points, and South Carolina beat Tulsa 69-58 on Sunday in the Hall of Fame Classic.

South Carolina trailed 51-49 with 10:47 left after Tulsa’s 11-3 run. But the Gamecocks answered with a 15-0 spurt -with five points from Lawson – to push their lead into double figures for the rest of the way.

Tulsa went scoreless for nine-plus minutes in the second half, missing 13 consecutive field goals.

Couisnard and Lawson, who led the Gamecocks last season with 13.4 points a game, each made four 3-pointers as South Carolina (1-1) was 9 of 23 from distance. Keyshawn Bryant had his streak of six straight games in double-figure scoring snapped as he finished with two points in 18 minutes.

The teams combined for 44 turnovers.

Brandon Rachal scored 14 points for Tulsa (0-2), and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson and Elijah Joiner each added 11 points. Joiner also grabbed seven rebounds and Embery-Simpson scored all of his points in the first half. Tulsa was just 4 of 17 from 3-point range.

South Carolina is scheduled to play at Houston on Saturday, while Tulsa opens its home schedule against UT Arlington on Friday.

KEY STATS
> The Gamecocks took control midway through the second half holding the Golden Hurricane scoreless from the 10:47 mark all the way to 1:19 left in the game. Tulsa shot nearly 50 percent from the field the first half and just 30.4 percent (7-for-23) the final 20 minutes.

NOTABLES
> Redshirt sophomore Jermaine Couisnard had his first 20 point game of the 2020-21 season. The East Chicago, Ind., native, was 7-of-15 from the field and 4-for-8 from downtown. He also had a team-high four assists.
> Junior AJ Lawson had another solid, double-digit scoring effort. He finished with 17 points and while going 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
> Redshirt junior Justin Minaya finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals.
> Redshirt sophomore TJ Moss had a nice contribution off the bench with eight points, four steals and a pair of assists.

UP NEXT
Carolina has no midweek game and will play at No. 17 Houston (2-0) next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Cougars were tabbed preseason favorites to win the American Athletic Conference.

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