Duane Notice’s surge in the second half led the Gamecocks to an 84-66 victory over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Monday night.
Notice scored 10 points in three minutes early in the second half to cap off a 16-4 run that put the game out of reach. The 6-foot-2 guard made two of his four three-pointers during the span and finished with 18 points and four rebounds for the game. Notice is South Carolina’s leading scorer through two games, averaging 16 points and 3.5 three-pointers.
This is South Carolina’s first 2-0 start since the 2012-13 season, but it didn’t come easy. Oral Roberts led for most of the first half and not until the waning minutes of the half did South Carolina seize control. Guard Obi Emegano, who scored a game-high 31 points, elbowed Sindarius Thornwell in the eye with 15 seconds remaining in the half to earn himself a flagrant foul. Thornwell made both free throws to put the Gamecocks ahead 33-30. Oral Roberts never led in the second half.
South Carolina crashed the boards, outrebounding the Golden Eagles by 16 on the offensive glass. Mindaugus Kacinas led the team with 13 rebounds, while center Laimonas Chatkevicius added six in addition to his 27 points.
“Mindaugus, you can’t say enough, how many extra possessions we get in games because of his relentless desire on the offensive rebound,” coach Frank Martin said.
Notice’s outside shooting in the second half forced Oral Roberts’ zone defense out of rhythm and opened the paint for the frontcourt. South Carolina played inside-out from that point on leading to a drastic improvement in efficiency, namely Chatkevicius who converted seven of his 10 field goal attempts.
“Teams like that [are] difficult to play against because they start off in man and then they switch to zone,” Notice said. “ After we got into a rhythm we were able to settle down, calm down, we became aggressive and we were able to attack the zone.”
Five-star recruit P.J. Dozier was South Carolina’s only starter held without a point. Dozier’s primary responsibility is to facilitate, which he struggled to do. In 12 minutes the freshman recorded one steal, dished out two assists and turned the ball over once.
Martin turned to Marcus Stroman to relieve Dozier, but Oral Roberts’ point guard Emegano overmatched him on both ends of the floor. The point guards combined for zero points and three assists. Thornwell led the team with seven assists.
“Our point guard defense was not very good today,” Martin said. “Our point guards, P.J. and Stroman, were not very defensively today. It allowed the ball to get deeper on the floor.”
Next, South Carolina will face DePaul in St. Thomas as part of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. The Gamecocks do not return home until November 27th when they face Lipscomb.