South Carolina beats Western Carolina 72-50

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Freshman Anthony Gill scored 14 points in his debut to lead South Carolina to a 72-50 win over Western Carolina on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

South Carolina leaned on its newcomers of Gill and junior college transfer Brenton Williams, who added 13 points. All 10 Gamecocks who played also scored.

The Gamecocks made 30-of-59 shots, the first time they have shot better than 50 percent in 17 games.

Western Carolina turned the ball over 19 times. Trey Sumler and Harouna Mutombo each led the Catamounts with 11 points.

South Carolina started off missing six of its first seven shots, but the Gamecocks didn’t struggle much after that. South Carolina started pressing Western Carolina about midway through the first half, leading to two quick buckets by Williams and a time-out from the Catamounts, who won their division in the Southern Conference last season.