Elijah Strong scored the game’s first 11 points to spark South Carolina to an 85-76 SEC victory over Oklahoma on Tuesday night in Columbia, S.C.
Strong had 15 of his 17 points in the first half, Meechie Johnson scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, and Kobe Knox added 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds as the Gamecocks (11-8, 2-4 SEC) ended a three-game losing streak by leading from wire to wire.
Xzayvier Brown led the Sooners (11-8, 1-5) with 22 points and six rebounds. Tae Davis scored a season-high 20 points, Derrion Reid added 13 points and seven rebounds and Nigel Pack added nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Strong made his first four shots, including 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, to force Sooners coach Porter Moser to call his first timeout just 2:32 into the game.
Strong surpassed his 11.2 points per game moments later and finished with 15 points in the first half as the Gamecocks led by as much as 28-14 before Oklahoma responded. Myles Stute also was key for South Carolina early. He scored eight of his 11 points in the first half and went 3 of 5 from 3-point range for the night.
The Sooners started 6 of 21 from the field, including 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, but Brown, who has scored at least 21 points in seven of his past nine games, started knocking down shots.
Davis rarely shoots from beyond the arc, but he made two 3-point attempts late in the half as Oklahoma closed on a 22-11 run to go into halftime down 39-36.
Knox took over the scoring load from Strong to start the second half. He and Mike Sharavjamts keyed an early 12-5 run to put the Gamecocks back up by double digits.
Brown kept Oklahoma close down the stretch, but Johnson stepped to the foul line to close the deal. He sank eight straight in the final minute.
South Carolina improved to 10-3 at home and emerged from the SEC basement with the win. Oklahoma, which dropped its fifth straight, joined LSU at the bottom with matching 1-5 marks.
–Field Level Media
