Nathan Hoover made nine 3-pointers Monday night and scored a career-high 30 points as Wofford never trailed in an 81-61 win over South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
Hoover missed just three times from behind the arc as the Terriers (5-2) canned 13-of-29 for the game, in sharp contrast to the Gamecocks' 7-of-25 performance on 3s. Keve Aluma added 10 points and eight rebounds for Wofford, and Tray Hollowell came off the bench to contribute 10 points. Cameron Jackson also tallied 10.
Reserve Felipe Haase and Maik Kotsar each scored 13 points to pace South Carolina (3-3), and Hassani Gravett chipped in 11. But the Gamecocks struggled to make shots, sinking only 33.3 percent of their field goal attempts.
Making the result even more impressive for the Terriers was that they cruised to a win without a good game from Fletcher Magee, their leading scorer at 18.5 points per game. Magee hit just 3-of-15 shots, including 2-of-11 on 3-pointers, and finished with just eight points.
All of Magee's points came in a 1:54 span early in the second half as Wofford expanded a three-point halftime lead to 40-26. South Carolina pulled within 44-42, but the Terriers rattled off the next seven points en route to the win.
Wofford wasted no time putting its stamp on the game, with Hoover making a 3-pointer 22 seconds into it. When Ryan Larson converted a 3-point play with 8:23 left in the half, the Terriers opened up a 19-6 lead.
South Carolina's dormant offense finally showed life with an 8-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Haase with 5:39 remaining that drew the Gamecocks within five points and injected life into the crowd at Colonial Life Arena.
TJ Moss hit a transition layup at the 2:14 mark that pulled South Carolina into a 24-24 tie, but Wofford got two free throws from Chevez Goodwin and a jumper from Aluma in the final two minutes. That enabled the Terriers to lead 28-25 at intermission.
--Field Level Media
Wofford | South Carolina | |
Nathan Hoover 30 | Scoring | Felipe Haase 13 |
Ryan Larson 8 | Assists | T.J. Moss 3 |
Keve Aluma 8 | Rebounds | Maik Kotsar 10 |
Nathan Hoover 3 | Free Throws Made | Keyshawn Bryant 3 |
Fletcher Magee 3 | Steals | Keyshawn Bryant 1 |
Matthew Pegram 1 | Blocks | Keyshawn Bryant 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Wofford | 81 | 47.7 | 13-29 | 6-12 | 17 | 41 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
South Carolina | 61 | 33.3 | 7-25 | 16-21 | 12 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 17 |