It was the second meeting between . . .
South Carolina stormed out of the gate with a 17-2 run to start the second half, holding WMU scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Over the second 20 minutes, USC outscored Western, 44-32.
Junior Bryce Moore recorded 14 points on the afternoon and tied his career-high with four three-pointers made. Rounding out the trio of double digit scoring was freshman Michael Flowers with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, including two threes.
As a team the Broncos went 21-of-44 (.477) from the field and knocked down eight from beyond the three-point line. South Carolina held a slight edge on the boards, outrebounding WMU, 33-30, but it registered 12 offensive rebounds to score 14 second chance points.
Western Michigan committed 22 turnovers to USC’s 12, while the Gamecocks scored 28 points off WMU turnovers. South Carolina enjoyed a big 36-20 advantage in points in the paint.
The Broncos jumped out to an early 13-2 lead to start the contest and held South Carolina scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Midway through the first half the Gamecocks responded with a 12-2 run with four straight made field goals to earn their first lead of the game. Wilder ended the scoring drought for WMU with a floater from the free-throw line to tie the game at 18-18 with seven minutes remaining in the stanza.
Both teams traded baskets during the latter stages of the first half. Wilder scored two of his game-high 15 in the final seconds, connecting on a 15-foot jumper to give South Carolina a slim 35-34 lead at the break.
South Carolina began the second half on a 6-0 run to extend its lead and put together a 17-2 run. During the seven-minute span, the Broncos were held scoreless and committed seven turnovers.
Trailing by double digits, freshman Michael Flowers provided life off the bench scoring six straight points to cut the deficit to 10 with six minutes remaining. Once again, however, USC countered with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 65-51.
WMU cut the lead to 10 with 1:30 remaining after back-to-back threes from Bryce Moore and junior Josh Davis. Down the stretch, the Broncos made four of their final five field goals while holding USC scoreless from the field the final 3:38 in the 79-66 loss.
The Broncos will have nearly a week off before playing their next game at home on Saturday, Nov. 25 against Northwood.