Victor Bailey Jr. hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 29 points, and No. 19 Tennessee used a strong shooting night to win 93-73 over South Carolina on Wednesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.
John Fulkerson added a season-high 19 points and Jaden Springer scored 16 for Tennessee (15-5, 8-5 Southeastern Conference), which shot 54.2 percent.
Bailey, a junior who transferred from Oregon, entered the game averaging 9.6 points and had totaled 19 in his previous four contests. He missed only three of his 10 attempts from the beyond arc. Fulkerson, who averaged 5.4 points in his previous seven contests, went 7-for-12 from the field while adding six rebounds and three assists.
AJ Lawson hit four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for South Carolina (5-10, 3-8), which has lost four in a row for the first time since December 2018. Keyshawn Bryant and TJ Moss each scored 15 for the Gamecocks, who made 10 treys but shot 40 percent overall and committed 18 turnovers.
After scoring just 65 Saturday in a 13-point loss at LSU, Tennessee made 17 of 32 shots in the first half to lead 50-39 at the break. Bailey was the star, scoring 14 points and going 4 of 7 from 3-point range as the Volunteers hit six of its nine long-distance attempts over the first 20 minutes.
A pair of those Bailey 3-pointers highlighted a 17-4 Tennessee run late in the first half that helped the home squad make some space from the Gamecocks.
The Vols scored 16 points off 12 first-half turnovers by South Carolina, which led by four with 8:31 left in the opening half thanks to making seven of its first nine 3-point attempts.
However, Bailey and Fulkerson helped Tennessee stay strong out of the gate in the second half. The Volunteers made five of their first eight shots after the break, with that pair combining for 10 of their first 14 second-half points to open a 62-46 advantage.
The Gamecocks, though, hung around and got within 69-62 after a Moss 3-pointer and Wildens Leveque's dunk. But another Bailey trey and back-to-back buckets from Fulkerson, punctuated by a dunk, had Tennessee ahead 76-62 and well in control.
--Field Level Media
South Carolina | Tennessee | |
A.J. Lawson 20 | Scoring | Victor Bailey Jr. 29 |
Seventh Woods 7 | Assists | Keon Johnson 5 |
Keyshawn Bryant 7 | Rebounds | Yves Pons 9 |
Keyshawn Bryant 6 | Free Throws Made | Jaden Springer 8 |
Keyshawn Bryant 3 | Steals | John Fulkerson 2 |
Keyshawn Bryant 1 | Blocks | Victor Bailey Jr. 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
South Carolina | 73 | 40.0 | 10-24 | 11-12 | 16 | 27 | 3 | 11 | 18 |
Tennessee | 93 | 54.2 | 9-19 | 20-26 | 26 | 35 | 2 | 8 | 16 |