Cam Carter scored 17 points to lead a balanced scoring effort and LSU coasted to an 81-67 victory against South Carolina on Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Mike Williams III scored 13 points, Vyctorius Miller had 12, Dji Bailey added 11 and the Tigers (14-12, 3-10 SEC) won their second straight after a seven-game losing streak.
LSU shot 50 percent from the floor and made 43.3 percent of its 3-pointers. The Tigers’ bench players outscored their South Carolina counterparts 30-15.
Jamarii Thomas scored 23 and Collin Murray-Boyles had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Gamecocks (10-16, 0-13), who extended their school-worst winless start in SEC play.
Thomas made South Carolina’s first two field goals of the second half to start a 7-0 run that pulled the Gamecocks within 43-34. Curtis Givens III answered with a 3-pointer and Bailey added a jumper for a 14-point lead.
South Carolina crept within nine points, but Carter made consecutive 3-pointers and the Tigers expanded the lead to 59-42. The Gamecocks trimmed the deficit to 15 points twice before Carter made a jumper and Jordan Sears added a 3-pointer to give LSU a 66-46 lead midway through the half.
The Tigers’ biggest lead was 21 points before South Carolina scored seven unanswered points to get within 69-55. The Gamecocks got within 14 three more times before Miller and Bailey made consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead to 81-61 with 3:19 left.
Thomas made a layup to start the scoring in the first half; but, moments later, Miller made a 3-pointer to give LSU the lead for good. Miller made another 3-pointer to push the lead to 10-4.
The Gamecocks got within one point twice before Robert Miller III scored four points and Sears added a 3-pointer to help expand the lead to nine points. Murray-Boyles made a dunk for South Carolina, but Williams made two 3-pointers and the Tigers opened a 31-18 lead.
The lead grew to 16 twice before LSU held a 41-27 halftime advantage.
–Field Level Media
