Ramon Galloway scored 12 points and Lakeem Jackson added 11 to lead South Carolina to a 57-41 victory over South Carolina-Upstate on Tuesday night.
Both teams struggled from the field and the Gamecocks (3-1) did not take command until a 14-0 run during the middle of the second half.
South Carolina shot 30 percent in the first half and just 42.6 percent in the game, but its defense held the Spartans to just 15 field goals and 25.9 percent shooting from the field.
Both teams played sloppy but South Carolina coach Darrin Horn was pleased with the result.
''I think our team took a step (forward),'' Horn said. ''We won a game that was ugly when we were very poor offensively. But we got the defensive effort we were looking for 40 minutes. I think all the numbers show that.''
Galloway and Jackson combined to score the first 10 points of the run while the Spartans suffered through a 7:22 stretch without a basket.
Galloway's 3-pointer began the run and Jackson followed with a three-point play. Galloway then scored on a fast break before Jackson scored off of an offensive rebound to make it 41-28 with 11:40 remaining. That's as close as it would be the rest of the way.
''We want to play at a fast pace, speed the other team up and have them not run their offense,'' Galloway said. ''We had to pick up the energy in the second half and we finally did.''
Horn felt the defensive pressure turned the momentum in South Carolina's favor.
The Gamecocks dominated the offensive glass and won the rebounding battle 55-34.
''Obviously, we have a lot of work to do in a lot of areas, especially offensively,'' Horn said. ''But for us to hold them to 41 points and be able to win a game just because we grinded it and defended is a real positive and something we can build on moving forward.''
Babatund Olumuyiwa led USC Upstate (0-6) with 11 points, seven rebounds and nine blocks.
