NO. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA 68, VERMONT 50
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- PJ Dozier came to South Carolina last season as Coach Frank Martin's first McDonald's All-America recruit. Things, however, did not go Dozier's way.
But look at him now.
Dozier had a career-high 21 points to lead the 20th-ranked Gamecocks to a 68-50 victory over Vermont and a 7-0 start for the second consecutive year.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore topped his previous best performance of 17 points in a season-opening victory over Louisiana Tech. Two games later, it was Dozier who hit the game-winning shot in a 70-69 victory over Monmouth.
It's a dramatic step forward from 2015-16 when Dozier was regularly in foul trouble and routinely pulled from games by Martin because of sub-standard defense.
"Last year wasn't my year," Dozier said. "This year, (Martin) has that trust in me."
Dozier helped the Gamecocks to a 13-1 run at the start of the second half. Maik Kotsar had eight points in the charge while Dozier had a three-pointer and a thunderous finish to an alley-oop pass that had the crowd on its feet as South Carolina took a 49-32 lead.
The Catamounts (6-3) could not respond to taller, quicker South Carolina.
Last year, Martin said Dozier committed the triple sins of turnovers, not defending and getting into foul trouble. "This year, he's playing hard, he's defending and he's never in foul trouble," Martin said. "Last time I checked, you haven't seen any of those turnovers where he throws it to the guy at the top of the key so he can dunk it in the other basket."
Dozier had three of the Gamecocks' four three-pointers. Kotsar had 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, mostly from close to the basket, while Chris Silva added 12 points for South Carolina.
Dozier had six rebounds, as did the 6-9 Silva, along with three steals.
Anthony Lamb had 14 points, the only Vermont player in double figures.
The Catamounts have won 20 or more games in Coach John Becker's five seasons and had a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and the NIT in 2014. They do it with a mix of strong-shooting upperclassmen and enough young talent to compete in the American East Conference.
But Vermont doesn't have enough firepower to keep up with a top-20 team like South Carolina. The Gamecocks' defense kept the Catamounts off balance most of the way as they fell behind by 14 points in the opening half.
For all their success last week in defeating ranked opponents Michigan and Syracuse, the Gamecocks are very much a work in progress.
One starter, Kotsar, and four of the five players off the bench are in their first years at South Carolina and several times an animated Martin yanked players, loudly questioning their technique. He calmed in the second half with South Carolina's quick start.
In other games involving ranked men’s team Thursday, Chris Chiozza scored 16 points, Justin Leon added 13 and No. 24 Florida (7-1) handled North Florida 91-60. Dallas Moore finished with 31 points for North Florida (3-6). … Josh Perkins and Silas Melson had 15 points apiece as No. 8 Gonzaga remained undefeated and kept Mississippi Valley State winless with a 97-63 victory. … Jacob Evans III made two free throws with 20 seconds left in overtime and Cincinnati upset No. 19 Iowa State 55-54. Kyle Washington had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Evans had 11 points for the Bearcats (6-1).
In games involved Top 25 SEC women’s teams, A’ja Wilson scored a career-best 31 points and had 12 rebounds to help No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 14 Texas 76-67. Kaela Davis added 12 points, and Tyasha Harris had 10 for the Gamecocks (6-0). Kelsey Lang had 15 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for Texas (2-3). … Makayla Epps scored 30 points and Maci Morris had 11 of her career-high 19 in the second half when No. 17 Kentucky (6-1) pulled away for an 82-68 victory over No. 12 Oklahoma (5-1). … Kindred Wesemann scored 16 points and Kansas State made 12 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to turn back No. 23 Auburn 71-66. Breanna Lewis finished with 13 points and nine rebounds as the Wildcats (7-0). Katie Frerking finished with 22 points and Janiah McKay added 15 for the Tigers (6-2).
Sports on 12/02/2016