Behind a flurry of turnovers forced by their defense, and the emergence of Duane Notice from his recent shooting woes, South Carolina was able to beat Texas A&M 79-68 Saturday afternoon.
As has been the story for much of the season, it was the South Carolina defense that seemed to spur much of it’s offense. The Aggies turned the ball over 25 times, which Frank Martin’s team turned into 30 points. Another result of the forced turnovers was that the A&M attempted 19 less shots than the Gamecocks, allowing South Carolina to overcome shooting 13% worse from the field.
Sindarius Thronwell and PJ Dozier, the Gamecocks two leading scorers on the season, combined to score just 24 points on 28 shots. Coming into the game, Dozier was averaging just under 16 points per game, while Thornwell was averaging a little less than 19.
Despite a lack of production from its stars, South Carolina was able to win largely due to the play of Rakym Felder and Notice. Felder came off the bench and scored 19 points for the Gamecocks, while also providing energy in the first half when the rest of the South Carolina team seemed a step slow.
Notice was able to break out of his shooting slump and score 19 points on the night. In the previous four games, he had shot 1-20 from three-point range. Yet A&M was a different story, as Notice seemed to find his three-point stroke again, going 4-9 from behind the arc.
With this win, South Carolina improved to 2-0 in SEC conference play, and 11-3 on the season. They are now 8-0 in games that Thornwell has played in this season.
The Gamecocks return to action Wednesday night at 6:30 against Tennessee as they attempt to stay undefeated in SEC play.