The South Carolina men’s basketball team defeated North Carolina A&T with a score of 91-72 at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday night. The Gamecocks start 1-0 for the first time since 2023.
South Carolina’s offense ran through senior forward Nordin Kapic early. He scored or assisted the team’s first 9 points of the game, which included knocking down two threes himself and assisting on another by graduate guard Myles Stute.
With a chance to take the lead, the Aggies missed two free throws, and redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson capitalized by hitting a three on the other end to take a 12-8 lead. The bucket was the first for Johnson since stepping away from the Ohio State Buckeyes in December of last season.
The Gamecocks’ second team foul in the game’s first seven minutes gave North Carolina A&T the chance to bring the game within two at the line.
Freshman guard Eli Ellis notched his first assist on the season in an impressive under the hoop dish to freshman forward Hayden Assemian. Ellis and Assemian were teammates on the YNG Dreamerz in Overtime Elite before each committing to South Carolina this past summer.
An efficient passing sequence led to a dunk by junior forward Elijah Strong, but a technical foul on Strong shortly followed after he pointed at North Carolina’s bench following the score.
Freshman forward Lewis Walker hit two free throws and redshirt junior guard Lureon Walker hit a 3-point shot to put North Carolina down 18-17 with a little over 10 minutes to go in the half.
Redshirt junior forward Christ Essandoko connected on a 3-pointer to lift the Gamecocks to a 23-17 lead before a quick answer from Aggies junior guard Bryson Ogletree with a three of his own. Ellis answered with a three to notch the first points of his collegiate career.
Strong’s third score of the night put him at 6 points in just four minutes and lifted the Gamecocks to their first double digit lead of the game with 7:24 remaining in the first half. Junior forward Jordan Butler extended the lead to 12 with a dunk off of an assist from Strong.
In the final two minutes of the half, the Gamecocks went on a 9-0 run that included Kapic knocking down his third three of the period and redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox tipping in a lob from Ellis.
South Carolina led 46-28 at the half, largely thanks to the team’s efficiency from beyond the arc. 46% of the Gamecocks points came from 3-pointers, hitting seven in the first half compared to the Aggies two. 48% of South Carolina’s scoring came off the bench thanks to 6 points each from Butler and Strong, as well as 5 from Ellis.
The Gamecock lead jumped up to 20 after Johnson found Knox on a long pass for the team's first points of the half.
South Carolina pushed the lead to 23 after Johnson stole the ball, then drove downcourt before faking right, then dishing left to senior guard Mike Sharavjamts. By the 12:28 mark, Johnson had 14 points, three assists, and five rebounds, all team highs.
South Carolina jumped to their largest lead of the game (28) with 7:19 left after Knox hit back-to-back threes to make the score to 80-52. The two buckets pushed the team to 50% from beyond the arc, hitting 13 of 26 attempts at that point. After hitting just one of their next six attempts, the Gamecocks finished 43.8% from three on the night.
The Gamecocks went on to win convincingly, 91-72, with Johnson and Kapic as the team's top two contributors of the night.
Nine different players knocked down at least one 3-pointer, and every player to see the floor notched at least one assist.
"They shared the ball a lot, the numbers will tell you that," head coach Lamont Paris said. "They deserve a ton of credit for that."
What's next?
The Gamecocks will host the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles this Sunday at Colonial Life Arena. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.