MBB: Carolina defeats Eastern Michigan
Dec. 30, 2022 / VIDEOS COURTESY OF USC MEDIA OUTLET
Carolina finished its non-conference schedule with a home victory, defeating Eastern Michigan 74-65 in Colonial Life Arena on Friday night. The Gamecocks (7-6) led for most of the game, and never trailed after a Chico Carter Jr. 3-pointer put them up 13-11. Emoni Bates led the way for the Eagles (3-10), finishing with a career-high 36 points. The Gamecocks, though, managed to keep the other Eastern Michigan players at bay.
Gregory Jackson II threw down three dunks in the first half and knocked down four 3-pointers in the second to score a career-high 24 points and help South Carolina power its way past Eastern Michigan, 74-64 on Friday night.
The game featured a pair of highly rated recruits. Jackson, originally the top-rated recruit in the Class of 2023 before reclassifying himself and committing to South Carolina for the 2022-23 season, finished with a career-high 24 points. Sophomore Emoni Bates, the No. 3 recruit from the Class of 2021 who played at Memphis as a freshman, hit 8 of 15 from 3-point range and posted a career-high 36 points to lead Eastern Michigan.
Jackson, who turned 18 years old on December 17 and is the highest-rated recruit in program history, was 9 of 19 from the field and hit 4 of 9 from beyond the arc while pulling down nine rebounds. Carolina’s GG Jackson scored a team-high 24 points, and Carter Jr. added 15. Daniel Hankins-Sanford had good production off the bench for South Carolina with eight points in 11 minutes.
South Carolina built a 10-point lead in the first half and held a 40-30 advantage at intermission.
Chico Carter Jr. had 15 points for the Gamecocks (7-6). Meechie Johnson added 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Eastern Michigan had trouble finding offense outside of Bates, who shot 13 of 25 from the field, including 8 of 15 from distance, and was the only player to reach double-figure scoring. As a team, the Eagles were 25 of 63 from the field (39.7%).
KEY STATS
The Gamecocks hit the road for the start of conference play on Tuesday night at Vanderbilt (7-6). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network. Roy Philpott (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC opener at Memorial Gym.
Dec. 30, 2022 / VIDEOS COURTESY OF USC MEDIA OUTLET
Carolina finished its non-conference schedule with a home victory, defeating Eastern Michigan 74-65 in Colonial Life Arena on Friday night. The Gamecocks (7-6) led for most of the game, and never trailed after a Chico Carter Jr. 3-pointer put them up 13-11. Emoni Bates led the way for the Eagles (3-10), finishing with a career-high 36 points. The Gamecocks, though, managed to keep the other Eastern Michigan players at bay.
Gregory Jackson II threw down three dunks in the first half and knocked down four 3-pointers in the second to score a career-high 24 points and help South Carolina power its way past Eastern Michigan, 74-64 on Friday night.
The game featured a pair of highly rated recruits. Jackson, originally the top-rated recruit in the Class of 2023 before reclassifying himself and committing to South Carolina for the 2022-23 season, finished with a career-high 24 points. Sophomore Emoni Bates, the No. 3 recruit from the Class of 2021 who played at Memphis as a freshman, hit 8 of 15 from 3-point range and posted a career-high 36 points to lead Eastern Michigan.
Jackson, who turned 18 years old on December 17 and is the highest-rated recruit in program history, was 9 of 19 from the field and hit 4 of 9 from beyond the arc while pulling down nine rebounds. Carolina’s GG Jackson scored a team-high 24 points, and Carter Jr. added 15. Daniel Hankins-Sanford had good production off the bench for South Carolina with eight points in 11 minutes.
South Carolina built a 10-point lead in the first half and held a 40-30 advantage at intermission.
Chico Carter Jr. had 15 points for the Gamecocks (7-6). Meechie Johnson added 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Eastern Michigan had trouble finding offense outside of Bates, who shot 13 of 25 from the field, including 8 of 15 from distance, and was the only player to reach double-figure scoring. As a team, the Eagles were 25 of 63 from the field (39.7%).
KEY STATS
- The Gamecocks had their best first half of the season, scoring 40 points and shooting 54.8 percent (17-for-31) in helping build a double-digit lead.
- Carolina was also very effective on the glass with a 46-30 edge in the rebounding column.
- Gregory “GG” Jackson II scored a career-high 24 points in 30 minutes. He was just shy of his second-straight double-double, finishing with a team-high nine rebounds. Jackson is the only freshman in the country to score in double-figures in every game this season.
- Four more players had six rebounds for the Gamecocks: Meechie Johnson, Hayden Brown, Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis (career high for the freshman).
- Chico Carter Jr. was an efficient 6-of-7 from the floor en route to scoring 15 points. He is 28-of-55 from behind the arc this season, good for a team-best 50.9 percent from distance.
- Meechie Johnson had 10 points to extend his double-figure scoring streak to six games.
The Gamecocks hit the road for the start of conference play on Tuesday night at Vanderbilt (7-6). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network. Roy Philpott (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC opener at Memorial Gym.
