The South Carolina men's basketball team turned in a strong defensive performance Wednesday night, holding No. 25 Michigan to 19 percent shooting in a 61-46 win.
The Gamecocks were particularly stingy beyond the arc, limiting the Wolverines to two makes on 26 attempts. After holding a small lead throughout the majority of the game, the home team pulled away late with tough defense, forcing misses on 18 of Michigan's final 20 shot attempts while allowing just 19 second half points.
Michigan coach John Beilein was impressed with the South Carolina defense, saying he felt his team didn't get many open looks.
The scoring output was a season-low for the visitors, as the Wolverines had scored at least 76 points in each of their first four games.
Senior leadership
Senior guard Sindarius Thornwell led the way for the Gamecocks yet again, recording game-highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Lancaster native also added three assists and three blocks. Thornwell now averages a team-high 20.8 points per game in addition to leading the Gamecocks with 7.2 rebounds.
"It's not my game, it's my body," Thornwell said of his improvement. "I played my sophomore year and my junior year banged up a little bit and couldn't really go by people and couldn't really get up under my shot with my knees. Now, with my body, I can go by people and make my shoots, and it really boosts my confidence a lot."
Fellow senior guard Duane Notice scored 13 points and added five rebounds, making up for the goose-egg from PJ Dozier. Notice also made a contribution at the point of the defense, filling in for Dozier, who played just 17 minutes.
"No one ever talks about Duane Notice guarding the ball at the half court line and not letting anybody run offense," head coach Frank Martin said.
Senior Justin McKie had just five points, but they came at the right time, putting together his own 5-0 run late in the first half to give the Gamecocks the lead for good.
Dominant down low
The Gamecocks didn't dominate on the glass as they did in their first four games, managing a 40-36 advantage in rebounds. However, South Carolina did its damage in the paint, outscoring Michigan 36-8 in the painted area. Chris Silva and Maik Kotsar had 10 points apiece in limited minutes, as both got into foul trouble.
"Ten days ago, Maik Kotsar's playing the first game he's ever played. Chris Silva picked up two fouls as soon as he tucked his jersey in in the first game. They're starting to settle down," Martin said of his starting bigs.
The Gamecocks went to Kotsar and Silva down low early in the game, as the freshman racked up two assists in the opening minutes, while Silva had six points before five minutes were off the clock in the first half.
"We was trying to get real physical down there," Silva said.
Meaningful win
The victory is South Carolina's first over a ranked opponent since February when the Gamecocks took down No. 8 Texas A&M. With the win, the Gamecocks have equaled their 2015-16 total of one non-conference win over a major conference opponent. Last year's lone major win came over Clemson.
Next up
The Gamecocks face another major conference test, taking on Syracuse on Saturday in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tip-off will be at 2 p.m., allowing fans to watch without missing out on the Palmetto Bowl on Saturday night.