P.J. Dozier led the Gamecocks in the win, scoring 23 points for the win.
It might be expected that a high ranking opponent coming into town against the lowly, 5-3, USF
Bulls would end up in a blowout loss for the home team. While the Bulls do have three losses, none of which came to a team the caliber of South Carolina, a different USF team showed up. Instead of a lopsided game, favoring the one-loss Gamecocks, the Bulls actually had a one point lead midway through the first half, 17-16. And, against the odds, would increase their lead to 37-31, going into the halftime break. The biggest lead of the half by either team would be the five point lead USF had with 11:58 remaining.
Into the second half of play, the Bulls would hold their lead until a dunk by South Carolina’s Chris Silva tied the game at 46 with 15:22 remaining in the game. With just over 7 ½ minutes left in the game, the Gamecocks turned a corner, closing the game on a 13-3 scoring run to win the game convincingly.
The game was the classic case of two halves defining two games. For all that USF did well early, they did poorly in the second half. They led points off of turnovers 5-3 in the first half, but finished the game dominated, 13-5. The story was the same when it came to points in the paint, where they led 16-12 in the first period of play, but trailed South Carolina 18-8 in the same category in the second half. In short, USF came out sharp and aggressive in the first half and South Carolina did the same in the second.
Doziers 23 points led the Gamecocks in scoring, followed by Duane Notice with 15. Maik Kotsar and Rakym Felder contributed 11 apiece.
For the Bulls, Jahmal McMurray had a stellar game, scoring 25, the second highest scoring total in his career. The drop-off to the next highest scorers was big, though, with Malik Fitts scoring 12 and Geno Thorpe scoring 11.
The Bulls, who drop to 5-4 with the loss, will host Northern Illinois on 12/20. That game can be viewed via ESPN3.
The Gamecocks will host Clemson the following day. With the win, they move to 9-1 overall. Their game against Clemson will be available on ESPNU.
