Thornwell keeps No. 24 Gamecocks perfect with 86-76 win
Sindarius Thornwell scored 18 points, Michael Carrera had 16 points and 11 rebounds and No. 24 South Carolina outlasted physical Memphis, 86-76, on Saturday night to improve to 13-0 and continue its best start in 82 years.
The Gamecocks took the lead for good 63-61 with 8:51 left on Mindaugas Kacinas’ two foul shots and steadily pulled away from the Tigers (9-4), who had five players foul out and finished with a season-high 41 fouls. The rough play wasn’t enough to derail South Carolina, which is off to its best start since the 1933-34 club opened 17-0.
Things figure to get tougher for the Gamecocks – one of three remaining undefeated teams in Division I – once Southeastern Conference play begins Tuesday night at Auburn. Still, the large crowd at Colonial Life Arena yelled and screamed as the perfect run continued.
Ricky Tarrant Jr. had 20 points for Memphis.
The teams hadn’t met since the 2004 NCAA Tournament when a John Calipari-coached Memphis team topped the Gamecocks 59-43 in the opening round. South Carolina hasn’t been back to the Big Dance since then and hopes to change that this season.
South Carolina came in with the most surprising start of the season, winning its first 12 games in a streak the program had not accomplished in 82 years. But Memphis had the bulk and height to match up with the Gamecocks and showed that in first half that was bogged down by 32 combined fouls.
Goodwin and South Carolina’s Chris Silva had words beneath the basket before their teammates stepped in to keep the peace.
The Gamecocks used a 9-0 run late in the period to go up 39-33. But Ricky Tarrant Jr. hit two 3-pointers – the Tigers had six in the first 20 minutes – in the final 45 seconds to tie things at 42-all going into the break.
Memphis did not start leading scorer and rebounder Dedric Lawson for a second straight game as the freshman dealt with an abdominal strain. While the 6-foot-9 freshman came in off the bench, he was not much of a factor as he picked up three fouls in seven minutes of action.
Lawson finished with six points and two rebounds before fouling out with 1:10 remaining. Memphis’ other big man in Goodwin also fouled out, ending with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Duane Notice had 15 points for South Carolina, going 12 of 12 from the foul line. The Gamecocks went to the free-throw line 63 times in a regulation game that took 2 1 / 2hours to play.
TIP INS
Memphis: Tigers coach Josh Pastner is fifth in program history with 157 victories and is two shy of passing Final Four coach Dana Kirk for fourth overall. Pastner’s victories are the second most among coaches under 40 years of age with only Shaka Smart’s 171 in front.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks struggled against Memphis when the two schools were in the Metro Conference from 1984 until 1991 when South Carolina moved to the SEC. The Tigers were 15-4 over the Gamecocks in that stretch.
UP NEXT
Memphis closes out pre-American Athletic Conference play when it faces Nicholls State at home Tuesday night.
South Carolina begins Southeastern Conference play Tuesday night at Auburn.
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Thornwell keeps No. 24 Gamecocks perfect with 86-76 win."