South Carolina downs South Florida
ALAN HAWES/THE POST AND COURIER
Devan Downey scored 17 points and South Carolina reached the championship game of the Charleston Classic by downing South Florida 69-66 on Friday night at Carolina First Arena.
South Carolina (4-0) plays Miami at 6 p.m. on Sunday for the tournament championship.
South Florida (3-1) will play North Carolina-Wilmington at 3:30 p.m. in a consolation game.
Clutch free-throw shooting aided the Gamecocks down the stretch against the Bulls, as South Carolina made 11 of 14 in the last 1:49.
South Florida jumped out to a 10-point lead early in the first half against South Carolina, but the Gamecocks cut the margin to six at halftime.
South Carolina took a 40-38 lead at the 14:36 mark of the second half. While they never gave up the lead from that point on, the game was tight the remainder of the way.
Augustus Gilchrist led USF with 19 points.
South Carolina senior forward Dominique Archie tallied his 1,000th career point in the victory. Archie finished with 15.
SOUTH CAROLINA (4-0) – Archie 5-12 4-4 15, Jackson 0-4 1-2 1, Muldrow 4-10 2-4 10, Holmes 4-6 0-0 8, Downey 6-12 5-6 17, Raley-Ross 1-8 2-2 5, Galloway 1-5 5-8 7, Steed 1-3 2-2 4, Baniulis 0-0 0-0 0, Jefferson 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 23-62 21-30 69.
SOUTH FLORIDA (3-1) – Gilchrist 4-11 10-12 19, Famous 6-10 4-6 16, Howard 2-7 0-0 5, Jones 5-10 5-9 17, Mercer 1-4 0-0 2, Leemow 0-3 0-0 0, Noriega 1-1 0-0 3, Burwell 0-0 0-0 0, Fitzpatrick 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 21-48 19-27 66.
Halftime-South Florida 35-29. 3-Point Goals-South Carolina 2-17 (Archie 1-4, Raley-Ross 1-5, Jackson 0-2, Muldrow 0-2, Galloway 0-2, Downey 0-2), South Florida 5-13 (Jones 2-4, Noriega 1-1, Gilchrist 1-1, Howard 1-5, Leemow 0-1, Mercer 0-1). Fouled Out-Holmes, Leemow. Rebounds-South Carolina 39 (Holmes 8), South Florida 37 (Famous, Jones 9). Assists-South Carolina 3 (Jackson 2), South Florida 11 (Jones 5). Total Fouls-South Carolina 19, South Florida 22. A-2,391.
Quotes:
“I thought this was a terrific win because of how we had to win it,” Coach Darrin Horn said. “A great response from our players at halftime. … We talked about being a team, doing the little things and continuing to play with and for each other.”
“We talked no basketball at halftime,” Horn said. “We talked about being a team and doing the little things and continuing to play with and for each other. During the last 20 minutes we did that and it was the difference in the game.”
“In the first half we had a quick trigger, but I think in the second half we relaxed a little bit,” Devan Downey said. “Some shots just didn’t fall.”
“It was pretty challenging,” USC forward Mike Holmes said. “They’re very physical, they play really hard. We just had to get together, play as a team. … Just play the way we know how to play.”
“They had us for six blocks,” Horn said. “I think we had more than that or affected more of that.”
“The important thing is we found a way to grind out a game against a really talented basketball team, by the way, and found a way to win without being pretty,” Horn said. “And I think that’s what good basketball teams do. I think it was a step for our team.”
