The South Carolina men got their season off to a good start on Tuesday night, putting that awkward exhibition loss to Lander behind them with a 65-52 win against USC Upstate.
The Gamecocks looked disjointed at first on both ends of the floor, quickly falling into a 9-2 deficit. But the Spartans went on a lengthy scoring drought and South Carolina ripped off a 20-0 run to put any thoughts of another upset away.
Freshman guard Keyshawn Bryant was the standout for the Gamecocks, leading all scorers with 21 points in 21 minutes and adding seven rebounds.