South Carolina whips Temple

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Posted 6:50AM on Tuesday, December 3, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina forward Carlos Powell says he spent ``like the whole summer'' working on his shooting. ``I guess a lot it has paid off,'' Powell said after he tied a career-high with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 4-for-7 from 3-point range as South Carolina beat Temple 66-47 on Monday night. The sophomore, who averaged just 6.3 points a game last season, has become an unexpected scorer and emotional leader for the Gamecocks (4-0), averaging more than 17 points a game. ``I was just in the groove tonight. They told me to keep shooting and they told me to lead us to a win,'' Powell said. ``And I told them I'd do my best.'' South Carolina started off sluggish in the team's third game in four days, but pulled away from a young Temple team during the middle of the second half. Chuck Eidson and Rolando Howell each added 12 points. The Owls, who are starting three freshman, have now lost their first three games for the first time since 1988. Nile Murry had 12 points and Maurice Collins 10 to lead Temple, who shot just 19 percent from 3-point range compared to South Carolina's 36 percent. ``The man of the hour of was Carlos (Powell). Every time we needed a basket, he did something that was exciting,'' South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. ``He's just undisciplined enough to be effective. If he was anymore undisciplined, he'd be over there with me.'' The teams stayed close until the Gamecocks started a 21-4 run midway through the second half by pounding the ball inside. The Gamecocks lead grew past 10 when Howell was fouled after a slam dunk and hit the free throw to give South Carolina a 48-36 lead. Powell had a thunderous dunk driving the baseline with 4:09 to go that put South Carolina ahead 14, then Jarod Gerald brought the Carolina Center crowd to its feet when he saved a loose ball from going out of bounds and found Powell underneath the basket for another slam that gave the Gamecocks a 52-38 lead. Odom said his assistants encouraged him to play different people in the second half. ``Gerald was a key sub in the game. He gave us speed and imagination at the point guard position,'' Odom said. Temple's matchup zone had stifled the Gamecocks in the first half, and the Owls went on a 14-0 run over 6.5 minutes to take a 16-9 lead. But Temple coach John Cheney said he had to change give up on the zone when South Carolina took off on its big run. ``Having freshman, they got out of position and it broke loose,'' Cheney said. South Carolina ``just busted it open. The freshman just lost their way.'' ``I hope these guys are going to learn from their bruises,'' he said. South Carolina took its time in the second half and had just six turnovers and 16 assists led by Gerald's six. ``They constantly were taking their time and we forced them to be a better team,'' Cheney said. ``Passing is so important. They had 17 assists tonight and that's the mark of a great team.'' Temple would lead by five with 2:30 left in the half before Eidson capped a 9-0 run with a layup and 3-pointer to give South Carolina a 23-19 halftime advantage. The sluggish tone for the game was set early with the teams shooting a combined 1-for-9 from the field with seven turnovers in the opening four minutes. This is the second game of a school-record six-game road trip for the Owls, who face Charlotte on Wednesday and lost to Wake Forest 83-76 on Sunday night. South Carolina was without center Tony Kitchings for a second game. The senior had two screws put into his broken left hand Monday and may return to action in a month, athletics spokesman Kerry Tharp said.