South Carolina transfers lead the way in the first victory of the new basketball season

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper each scored 15 points and South Carolina beat South Carolina Upstate 82-53 in a season opener on Monday night.

B.J. Mack added 13 points and Myles Stute had 10 for South Carolina.

Justin Bailey scored 13 points and Trae Broadnax added 10 for SC Upstate.

Bailey’s 3-pointer almost three and half minutes in gave SC Upstate its only lead of the game at 5-3. South Carolina led 42-28 at halftime and outscored the Spartans 40-25 after intermission.

South Carolina leads the overall series 8-1, including 4-1 in Columbia. The 29-point win nearly doubles the previous average of 15.4 points per game for margin of victory the Gamecocks have over SC Upstate.

South Carolina’s four transfers (Cooper, Mack, Stute and Stephen Clark) entered having played a combined 430 games at the Division I level with 299 starts among them. The entire team’s 480 combined Division I starts ranks third in the Southeastern Conference behind only Mississippi State (514) and Texas A&M (502) entering this season.

KEY STAT

South Carolina knocked down 12 triples shooting 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the field. Six different Gamecocks knocked down a 3-pointer with Cooper and Mack leading the way making three each.

NOTABLES

Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper each had 15 points leading the Gamecocks in scoring. Johnson was an efficient 4-of-5 from the floor, leading Carolina with three assists.Four players scored in double-figures for Carolina: Johnson (15), Cooper (15), B.J. Mack (13) and Myles Stute (10). The foursome combined for 53 of Carolina’s 82 points.Sophomore guard Zachary Davis contributed key minutes on the defensive end for Carolina grabbing eight rebounds and generating three steals. His +/- of 15 was the third highest on the night behind Cooper (+23) and Jacobi Wright (+18).The Gamecock defense allowed just 25.0 percent (4-for-16) from beyond the arc.Carolina out-rebounded Upstate 45-27 and 10-6 on the offensive glass.Tonight’s 29-point margin of victory was the highest in a home opener since a Nov. 9, 2013 win over Longwood, 82-44 (38 points).

UP NEXT

Carolina (1-0) heads to Charlotte for a Friday night matchup against Virginia Tech (1-0), part of the Hall of Fame Series at the Spectrum Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. (ET) and will be available on the ACC Network. Dave O’Brien (pxp) and Cory Alexander (analyst) will be on the call.