There was no need for a second half comeback this time.
In front of a garnet crowd, South Carolina used an 18-0 first-half run to pull ahead early, and the Gamecocks never looked back, trouncing Baylor 70-50 to reach the first Elite Eight in program history.
Johnathan Motley put Baylor up by two just past the midpoint of the first half, but that would be the last Bears bucket for nearly eight minutes. The Gamecocks clamped down on the defensive end, while Sindarius Thornwell and company took advantage on offense, scoring 18 straight points to grab a double-digit lead and take it into the locker room.
South Carolina led by 15 at the half, and the Gamecocks controlled the early minutes, extending the lead to as many as 21.
But it simply couldn't be that easy.
"We know it's a 40-minute game, and we know teams are going to make runs, but we can't take our foot off the pedal, we got to keep the pressure on and keep guarding," Thornwell said.
Manu Lecomte, who started 1-for-8 from the field, hit a pair of threes during a 10-0 Baylor run that cut, the South Carolina lead to just 11. After some poor offensive possessions, Thornwell and Duane Notice drained back-to-back three-pointers to push the margin back to 17.
Notice found his stroke that he didn't have at times during the season, making four of six shots, including three from beyond the arc. The Gamecocks' premier wing defender was tasked with guarding Lecomte on the other end, and he did his job, holding the junior under his season average.
Motley, Baylor's leading scorer, struggled to find the bottom of the bucket at times as well, often being doubled by a combination Thornwell, Chris Silva, Maik Kotsar and Sedee Keita. Motley finished with 18 points on 17 shots, and he often looked frustrated on the offensive end.
"It was extremely tough, but that's what they game planned for," Motley said after the loss. "And they did a great job of executing their game plan. We couldn't, really couldn't, buy a basket."
The South Carolina defense took its toll on Baylor all night long, as the Gamecocks held the Bears to their lowest point total of the season, four points shy of their previous low of 54, set in a loss to Kansas State.
The victory was South Carolina's 25th of the season, matching last year's win total and a program record.
"It's a great thing, great win for the program, it's a good feeling when we continue to make history and I think once we got a taste of it we kind of got addicted and want to continue doing it.," Duane Notice said. "So we're going to do everything in our power to make sure we do that."
The Gamecocks will play in their first ever Elite Eight Sunday, taking on the winner of No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 4 Florida.