It could’ve been a real Nightmare Before Christmas for South Carolina. But like most Christmas classics, there’s always a happy ending. In this case, it turned out to be a very happy ending.
With an eight-day break and Christmas around the corner, the Gamecocks trailed for most of the first half against Radford on Sunday. But with a much better showing after halftime, they were able to overcome the small deficit and win 74-48.
South Carolina has now won six games in a row and moves to 9-3 on the season.
“Good effort by the guys in the second half. The games are hard,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “And when I say these games, I’m just talking about the proximity to a holiday or a break that these guys have anticipated. … When it was all said and done, I wanted to come out with a one-point smashing victory and that would’ve gotten it done for us. So we did better than that and we’ll feel better about that as we travel.”
How it happened
South Carolina opened the game with a Collin Murray-Boyles on a fadeaway jumper to take a 2-0 lead. After holding on to that lead for a little less than two minutes, Radford controlled the rest of the first half and never trailed again going into the break.