Meechie Johnson finally got South Carolina’s sluggish offense going and poured in 19 points as the Gamecocks beat The Citadel 71-55 on Saturday night in Columbia, S.C., in a game marked by shooting struggles.
Mike Sharavjamts had 12 points and Kobe Knox contributed 12 points for South Carolina, which shot 42% for the game. Johnson made seven of 11 shots from the floor and Sharavjamts was 6-for-12, but the Gamecocks were without a 3-point basket until the latter part of the second half.
The Gamecocks (7-3) made up for some of the shooting woes by going 18-for-21 at the free-throw line.
Carter Kingsbury scored 18 points for Citadel (3-8), which checked in with 37% shooting.
South Carolina missed its first 19 3-point attempts before Myles Stute connected for a 47-40 lead with 9:20 remaining. Then the 3-pointers started falling, as Johnson and Grant Polk also hit from long range to give the team three 3-pointers in a three-minute span and a 55-47 advantage.
Stute was in his second game back after missing time with a broken nose and concussion. Hayden Assemian provided seven points and six rebounds off the bench.
South Carolina led 35-28 at halftime.
The Bulldogs were thwarted in a comeback bid by hitting only one of their first 12 attempts from 3-point range and going 2-for 19 from beyond the arc for the game.
South Carolina finished with a 40-32 edge on the boards. Sharavjamts pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.
