Freshman Gregory Jackson II scored 22 points to lead three Gamecocks in double figures as South Carolina pulled away in the second half for a 68-53 victory over visiting South Carolina Upstate on Friday in Columbia, S.C.

Jackson shot 8 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, to go along with six rebounds, while Hayden Brown added 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. Jacobi Wright chipped in 10 points.

The Gamecocks (3-3), who ended a three-game losing streak, shot 28 of 59 (47.5 percent) from the field, including 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range, in addition to scoring 13 points off the Eagles’ 13 turnovers.

South Carolina outscored the Eagles 40-22 in the second half after trailing by three at halftime.

South Carolina Upstate (2-4) was led by Ahmir Langlais, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Gainey added 13 points. Trae Broadnax finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Eagles shot 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) from the field, including 2 of 12 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and were outrebounded 34-28.

Trailing 31-28, the Gamecocks took control of the game for good by opening the second half on a 14-4 run to take a 42-35 lead following Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk’s layup with 15:29 left.

Neither team led by more than six points during a tightly contested first half.

Gainey scored seven points and Langlais added six for the Eagles in the first 20 minutes for South Carolina Upstate, which shot 13 of 25 (52 percent) from the field, including 2 of 6 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

South Carolina was led by Jackson’s 10 points, while Brown added eight.

The Gamecocks struggled offensively in the first half, going 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from the field, including an abysmal 2 of 10 (20 percent) from distance.

–Field Level Media