Senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius scored a career-high 30 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead top-seeded South Carolina to an 88-66 victory over High Point on Tuesday in the first round of the NIT at Columbia, S.C.

Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell added 20 points and seven assists for the Gamecocks (25-8), who shot 60 percent from the field and matched the school record for victories set by the 1969-70 squad.

Senior forward Michael Carrera contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds and senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas added 11 points for a South Carolina squad missing five reserves due to suspension.

Sophomore guard Austin White scored 15 points for the eighth-seeded Panthers (21-11), who have lost both NIT games in the program's history. Freshman guard Andre Fox and junior guard Anthony Lindauer added 10 points apiece for High Point, which was without Big South Player of the Year John Brown (foot) and second-team all-conference selection Adam Weary (knee).

The Gamecocks will face either fourth-seeded Georgia Tech or fifth-seeded Houston in the second round.

About 90 minutes before tipoff, Gamecocks coach Frank Martin announced the suspensions of two key reserves, sophomore guard Marcus Stroman and freshman forward Chris Silva, for a "conduct issue." Also disciplined for the same reason were three backups -- freshman guard TeMarcus Blanton, freshman forward Eric Cobb and freshman guard Jamall Gregory.

The Gamecocks were on top by five at the break and scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 55-43 lead. High Point responded with a 9-2 run to move within five before South Carolina answered with a decisive 20-0 burst.

Chatkevicius scored six of the first 10 points during the surge to give the Gamecocks a 15-point lead. Junior guard Justin McKie and Thornwell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to end the run, making it 77-52 with eight minutes left. South Carolina led comfortably the rest of the way.

The Gamecocks looked as if they were going to roll to an easy victory when it was 31-13 less than 11 minutes into the game. However, the Panthers put up a fight with a 21-6 burst later in the half to move within one point before the Gamecocks scored six of the final eight points for a 48-43 halftime lead.