Devin Carter made four free throws in the final five seconds and South Carolina hung on for a 66-63 win over UAB on Thursday in Columbia, S.C.

UAB held possession with less than 30 seconds left down 62-61, but Jordan Walker lost control of the ball going to the hoop for the potential go-ahead bucket.

Carter and Walker traded two free throws, and Carter made another pair to seal the win.

Erik Stevenson topped South Carolina (3-1) with 15 points before fouling out. James Reese V scored 14 and Wildens Leveque added 13 with 7 rebounds.

Carter, a freshman, notched 12 points as the Gamecocks moved to 3-1 in the all-time series between the schools.

Tulane transfer Walker led the Blazers (3-1) with 15 points. Quan Jackson and Michael Ertel each had 12.

The Gamecocks outshot the Blazers from the field -- 42.3 percent to 34.4 percent.

UAB's high-powered offense entered the meeting averaging 95 points per game, but the team started slowly and did not score until Walker drained a three-pointer 2:38 in for a 3-2 lead.

Carter's free throw with 13:16 left in the first half gave the home side a 13-8 lead, but UAB kept the deficit at a minimum as the Gamecocks got stuck in a 1-for-7 skid from the field.

South Carolina found its touch toward the end of the opening frame by going on an 11-2 run.

The Southeastern Conference squad's biggest lead in the first 20 minutes was a 13-point edge before ending the half up 35-25.

In that half, Stevenson poured in 11 points and Carter added seven as the Gamecocks shot 45.2 percent from the field and made half of its eight treys.

Jackson paced UAB with nine points, but the Blazers struggled by shooting 3-for-14 from long range.

Just over four minutes into the second, Stevenson's layup put the Gamecocks up 14, and they held the comfortable double-digit lead until UAB's Walker canned a shot on a 10-0 run to make it 56-51.

--Field Level Media