South Carolina holds off The Citadel despite cold night from long range

Meechie Johnson finally got South Carolina's sluggish offense going and poured in 19 points as the Gamecocks beat The Citadel 71-55 on Saturday night in Columbia, S.C., in a game marked by shooting struggles.

Mike Sharavjamts had 12 points and Kobe Knox contributed 12 points for South Carolina, which shot 42% for the game. Johnson made seven of 11 shots from the floor and Sharavjamts was 6-for-12, but the Gamecocks were without a 3-point basket until the latter part of the second half.

The Gamecocks (7-3) made up for some of the shooting woes by going 18-for-21 at the free-throw line.

Carter Kingsbury scored 18 points for Citadel (3-8), which checked in with 37% shooting.

South Carolina missed its first 19 3-point attempts before Myles Stute connected for a 47-40 lead with 9:20 remaining. Then the 3-pointers started falling, as Johnson and Grant Polk also hit from long range to give the team three 3-pointers in a three-minute span and a 55-47 advantage.

Stute was in his second game back after missing time with a broken nose and concussion. Hayden Assemian provided seven points and six rebounds off the bench.

South Carolina led 35-28 at halftime.

The Bulldogs were thwarted in a comeback bid by hitting only one of their first 12 attempts from 3-point range and going 2-for 19 from beyond the arc for the game.

South Carolina finished with a 40-32 edge on the boards. Sharavjamts pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.

--Field Level Media