Gamecocks shake off rust in win

COLUMBIA -- For most of the second half Thursday night inside Colonial Life Arena, the scoreboard still said it was the first half.

Hey, it's an exhibition. Everyone's got some rust to knock off.

South Carolina's basketball team wasn't excluded.

The Gamecocks were sloppy in spurts and sharp in others in a 78-55 victory against Kentucky Wesleyan.

"It looked like a first time out," USC coach Darrin Horn said. "We saw a lot of positive things that were encouraging ... and saw an awful lot that we really need to work on, as every coach does this time of year."

There's a week until the regular season opener against Alabama A&M. Beyond that, counting the appearance in the Charleston Classic (Nov. 19-22), the Gamecocks will start with five games in nine days.

"It's something that's going to be on us pretty quick," Horn said.

Forward Sam Muldrow, who hit two 3-pointers -- including one to open the game's scoring -- led all scorers with 17 points (5 of 9 field goals). The junior also added seven rebounds.

A year ago, the 6-9 post battled an injury and academic issues through the early part of the season.

This year, at least initially, appears to be a different story for Muldrow.

"He played confident," Horn said. "Numbers aside, I think he played like the guy we think he can be."

The 3-point attempts, Horn said, are probably evidence of that added confidence.

"He was slinging that thing tonight," Horn said, adding that the second, late in the game, was well behind the 3-point arc. "We think Sam can shoot the ball. He's going to have the freedom to shoot it."

After the Gamecocks jumped out to a 9-0 start, Kentucky Wesleyan fought back to tie the game at 15. But an 8-0 run soon after allowed the Gamecocks to pull away.

USC's lead was 10 to 20 points throughout the second half, and it eventually opened the largest lead in the final minutes.

Dominique Archie (12 points), Ramon Galloway (11), Brandis Raley-Ross (10) and Mike Holmes (10) were the other Gamecocks in double figures.

Devan Downey hit only 1 of 7 shots for 6 points. The All-SEC point guard did have seven assists and three steals. He didn't even attempt a shot until about 10 minutes into the game, a sign that he was looking to pass first and score second.

"We scored 78 points with a guy that'll put up 17 or 18 a night not scoring a lot," Horn said. "We still found a way to get production from other guys."

It was the unofficial debut of South Carolina's four newcomers: Galloway, Lakeem Jackson, Johndre Jefferson and Stephen Spinella.

"Yeah, this is big for us to get ready for the season," Jackson said of the playing experience for the newcomers. "It's totally different from practice."

Jackson (six points) started at the off guard and played 26 minutes. The man he's competing with for the starting spot, Raley-Ross, played 25 minutes.

Galloway played 18 minutes. Jefferson was in for 15 and Spinella played three.

Horn was pleased with Jefferson, who was sidelined until Wednesday with an Achilles' strain. Jefferson finished with six points, four rebounds and two blocks in that relatively limited playing time.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.