COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) —Jermaine
Couisnard scored 19 points and AJ
Lawson 18 as South Carolina used a big first-half run to put away Texas A&M 74-54 on Saturday.
Couisnard and Lawson combined for six of the Gamecocks’ eight 3-pointers
to win their fourth straight over the Aggies (11-11, 5-5 Southeastern
Conference).
South Carolina (14-9, 6-4) has won six of its past eight league games
after starting SEC play at 0-2. And this time, the Gamecocks did it with
a first-half charge where they went from trailing by nine points to up
41-23 at the half.
Couisnard and Lawson led the surge with their outside shooting. Lawson
hit a 3-pointer after South Carolina had fallen behind 9-0 the first
three minutes. Couisnard, a freshman, put the Gamecocks up for good,
19-18, with nine minutes left in the opening half.
He capped the half with a long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer that got the
crowd to its feet and put South Carolina ahead by 18 points at the
break.
The Gamecocks built the lead to 61-30 early in the second half, although
the Aggies never got closer than 22 points the rest of the way.
It was a strong bounce back for the Gamecocks, who had come off a
disappointing loss to on the road last time out to Ole Miss, tied for
11th in the league.
Couisnard was again front and center with 12 points in the half
including the buzzer-beating 3-pointer that was reminiscent of his game
winner in a 71-68 victory over Kentucky last month.
Texas A&M missed 10 of its last 11 shots of the half to fall into the large hole it could not climb out of.
Quenton Jackson had 16 points to lead the Aggies.
KEY STATS
> South Carolina finished the first half on a 23-5 run over the final
8:20 to open an 18-point lead that it would never relinquish.
> The Gamecocks shot it well at the foul line, going 20-of-27 (74.0 percent) in the game.
> Carolina’s defense had 13 steals (one shy of matching season-high)
helping lead to 21 points off turnovers on the offensive end.
NOTABLES
> Redshirt freshman Jermaine
Couisnard continued to thrive in his new role at the point
guard position, leading the team with 19 points. He also had four
rebounds and three assists.
> Sophomore AJ
Lawson finished with 18 points and five rebounds in 23
minutes of action. He was 4-of-7 from 3 matching a season-high for makes
from distance. In two games vs. the Aggies this season, Lawson is
8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from behind the arc.
> Senior Maik
Kotsar had 10 points (3-for-6 FGs) with a team-high four
assists and four steals. The Tallinn, Estonia, native, leads the team
with 37 steals on the season.
> Kotsar was 4-for-4 at the free throw line and has made 14 in-a-row
at the charity stripe dating back to the second half vs. Missouri
(2/1/20).
> South Carolina has now won four-straight in the series against Texas A&M.
> Since dropping the SEC home opener after the New Year against
Florida (1/7/20), the Gamecocks are 4-0 at home in league action.
UP NEXT
Carolina travels to face Georgia on Wednesday in its next SEC road
matchup. The meeting will be the first between the two schools this
season. Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) will have
the call for the SEC Network broadcast in Athens.
Gamecocks Overcome Slow Start to Defeat Texas A&M, 74-54
