No. 16 Indiana goes great distances to get past South Carolina

Myles Rice scored a game-high 23 points as No. 16 Indiana earned an 87-71 win over visiting South Carolina on Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.

Mackenzie Mgbako added 17 points with seven rebounds, Malik Reneau scored 13 points and Kaanan Carlyle had 12 points for Indiana. Trey Galloway added 11 points while Oumar Ballo chipped in 13 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Hoosiers (3-0).

Morris Ugusuk led South Carolina (2-2) with 18 points and shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Nick Pringle had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jamarii Thomas also had 13 points for the Gamecocks and Myles Stute added 11 points.

Everything was going Indiana's way in the second half when Carlyle banked in a 3-point shot from just inside half court to give the Hoosiers a 49-35 lead with 16:46 remaining. It was supposed to be a pass to Mgbako, who sealed his defender, but the ball sailed over the top of the defense and into the hoop.

South Carolina took an early 4-0 lead, but the Hoosiers responded with a 14-0 run that culminated with a Rice jumper at the 14:34 mark of the first half.

An Ugusuk 3-pointer cut the Gamecocks' deficit to 20-17 with 8:31 remaining in the first half. Indiana was able to push its lead back to double figures at 35-24 on a Mgbako layup.

Indiana had a 43-32 halftime lead and played most of the second half with a double-digit advantage. Rice turned a steal into a two-on-one fast break that Galloway finished with a lefty layup and a 57-42 Indiana lead with 12:36 left in the game.

With 10:46 remaining, Galloway's first 3-pointer of the night extended the Indiana lead to 62-44.

The Gamecocks carved into the Hoosiers' double-digit lead late as a Pringle follow up slam cut the Indiana advantage to 79-68 with just under two minutes left. A Stute steal and resulting fast break layup by Thomas was as close as South Carolina got the rest of the way at 79-71 with 1:19 left in the game.

-Field Level Media