South Carolina will aim to snap a two-game slide as the Gamecocks face Furman on Sunday morning in their final game at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.

The Gamecocks (2-2) lost their opening game of the tournament to Colorado State on Thursday, and then lost to Davidson, 69-60, on Friday. Chico Carter Jr. led South Carolina with a season-high 26 points against Davidson, but the Gamecocks turned the ball over 16 times, which the Wildcats turned into 14 points.

South Carolina also missed five free throws and was outshot by Davidson from distance; the Gamecocks made six 3-pointers compared to nine from the Wildcats.

Despite the second straight loss, first-year South Carolina coach Lamont Paris was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Our overall level of competitiveness, right from the get-go, I thought was much higher,” Paris said. “I didn’t have any problem with that, about how we went about our business today, other than that we turned the ball over a lot. And we didn’t perform well offensively. Had some guys with some rough shooting days.”

South Carolina played without junior guard Meechie Johnson, who was wearing a boot on his right foot in pregame warmups. Paris said he’s not sure if Johnson will play Sunday. The Ohio State transfer started each of the Gamecocks’ three previous games, averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 assists per game.

Furman (2-2) lost to Penn State in Thursday’s tournament opener and then fell to Old Dominion on Friday.

In the 82-77 loss to ODU, the Paladins were led by 23 points from Mike Bothwell and 20 points from JP Pegues. Old Dominion outrebounded Furman by 14 and outscored the Paladins in the paint by 10.

Bothwell and Jalen Slawson — who had 15 points and four assists against ODU — both returned to Furman this season after going through the initial NBA Draft process last offseason.

“It was pretty clear that they both wanted to come back,” Furman coach Bob Richey told SB Nation recently. “We were excited to have them back. I love those two kids like my own.”

–Field Level Media

Donta Scott matched his career high with 25 points and Hakim Hart tallied all 16 of his points in the first half as Maryland overwhelmed Saint Louis 95-67 on Saturday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Conn.

Donald Carey, a transfer from Georgetown, contributed 16 points, his Maryland high, as he hit four 3-pointers in the first half when the Terps sprinted to a 24-point lead. Ian Martinez added 14 points off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting.

After thumping three overmatched foes, it was the first big win for the Terrapins (4-0) under new coach Kevin Willard. Maryland did it with Willard’s signature defensive pressure, which forced 14 turnovers and limited Saint Louis to 36.2 percent shooting.

The Terps’ up-tempo offense produced high-quality shots. Maryland made 32 of 63 attempts (50.8 percent), with 18 field goals coming from the paint.

The Terps led all the way in advancing to Sunday’s championship game against Providence or Miami (Fla.).

Javonte Perkins led Saint Louis (3-1) with 17 points, while the nation’s assist leader Yuri Collins contributed 12 points and six helpers. Reserve Sincere Parker chipped in with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

The Terps completely dominated the first half, hitting 19 of 37 shots (51.7 percent) while holding Saint Louis to 8 of 25 (25 percent). Maryland had just three turnovers while its defense forced eight and blocked four shots.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Hart and Carey put the Terps up 10-2 in the opening minutes.

Then Maryland took control midway through the first half, going on a 16-2 sprint. Carey triggered the run with a 3-pointer.

Then the spree came to a crescendo when Julian Reese made a deft backdoor pass to Hart for a layup, then blocked a shot at the other end which helped produce a fast-break 3 from Jahmir Young (11 points).

When Hart hustled to save a loose ball from going out of bounds, he directed it to Martinez for a layup and a 38-19 lead.

After Scott and Carey made 3-pointers 23 seconds apart in the final minute of the half to expand the Terps’ bulge to 51-27, frustration boiled over for the Billikens.

When two Saint Louis players drew contact with unsuccessful layup attempts and failed to get a whistle, coach Travis Ford sprinted from the other end of the floor to confront an official before he was restrained by Collins.

Ford was charged with a technical foul and at the start of the second half, Young made both free throws for a 53-27 lead.

After the break, Saint Louis never got the deficit inside 19 points. When Martinez drained a 3-pointer with 3:21 left, it stretched the Terps’ lead to their biggest of the game at 91-59.

–Field Level Media

DaRon Holmes II recorded 18 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots to help No. 21 Dayton post a 60-51 victory over visiting Robert Morris in nonconference play on Saturday afternoon.

Mustapha Amzil added 12 points and Toumani Camara contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Flyers (3-1).

Enoch Cheeks had 15 points and three blocked shots for Robert Morris (2-2), which began a stretch of seven straight games away from home.

Josh Corbin scored 12 points on four 3-pointers and Kahliel Spear registered 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Colonials.

Dayton’s Malachi Smith had five points on 2-of-8 shooting and three steals in 21 minutes in his initial outing of the season after missing the first three games with a foot injury.

The Flyers made 42.1 percent of their shots, including 7 of 24 from 3-point range.

The Colonials connected on 34.5 percent from the field and made 7 of 22 from behind the arc.

Robert Morris trailed 41-35 after Corbin knocked down a 3-pointer with 12:41 left. But the Colonials then went five minutes without scoring as Dayton rattled off seven straight points.

Camara and Holmes scored on dunks and Camara buried a 3-pointer to increase the Flyers’ lead to 48-35 with eight minutes to play.

A 3-pointer by Cheeks allowed Robert Morris to creep within eight with 4:43 left. But Holmes hit a jumper with 2:21 remaining to make it 54-44.

Spear scored on a putback for the Colonials to again make it an eight-point margin with 1:40 to go. But Smith drove for a layup with 57.5 seconds left and split two free throws to make it 57-46 with 40.4 seconds to play and the Flyers closed it out.

Holmes scored 12 first-half points as Dayton led 30-21 at the break.

Robert Morris was cold early, making just 2 of its first 14 shots. Meanwhile, the Flyers built a 16-7 lead, the last two coming on Smith’s basket with 10:04 left in the half.

Holmes later scored five straight points on a dunk and 3-pointer to elevate Dayton’s lead to 24-9 with 7:36 remaining.

The Colonials showed life with a 9-0 run to move within six on Corbin’s trey with 2:28 left.

–Field Level Media

No. 5 Baylor and No. 8 UCLA both look to avoid leaving Las Vegas with consecutive losses when they meet Sunday in the consolation game of the Continental Tire Main Event.

Baylor (3-1) could not weather a 56-point second-half deluge from No. 16 Virginia in Friday’s semifinal matchup. The Cavaliers shot 8 of 12 from 3-point range after intermission and 13 of 20 overall from the floor.

The 56 points allowed after halftime nearly matched the Bears’ total yield their previous time out in a 95-62 rout of Northern Colorado on Monday, and exceeded their defensive allowance from the 117-53 blowout of Mississippi Valley State in the Nov. 7 season opener.

Baylor’s porous defense detracted from an impressive second 20 minutes out of the offense. The Bears scored 46 points in the second half and finished 11 of 26 from 3-point range and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line.

The Bears trio of Keyonte George, LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler combined for 54 points and knocked down 10 of 19 shots from behind the arc.

By the time Baylor’s offense gained steam, however, the Bears were digging out of a 22-point hole.

“Defensively they were turning us over and offensively they were getting good shots,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “If we’re not operating on offense, we have to at least get stops on defense so we can get easy buckets on offense.”

Virginia forced 13 Baylor turnovers that the Cavaliers converted into 21 points.

UCLA (3-1) fell 79-70 against No. 19 Illinois in Friday’s second semifinal.

The Bruins built a lead of 15 points early into the second half, but the Fighting Illini exploded for 50 of their 51 points in the period over the final 17:53.

Terrence Shannon Jr.’s sizzling 8-of-9 shooting from 3-point range gave him 29 points to go with 10 rebounds for the Illini.

“We wilted,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin told the Los Angeles Times after the loss. “When the game got turned up, the game got physical, they refused to go away, we caved. That’s my fault.”

The Bruins’ veteran perimeter duo of Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. went for 22 and 20 points, respectively, and combined for nine assists and six steals. But UCLA sputtered collectively on offense, shooting worse than 40 percent in both halves and finishing at 37.5 percent (27 of 72).

Jaylen Clark, who averaged 17.3 points over the Bruins’ first three games, finished with seven points.

“We weren’t tough enough to handle their pressure,” Jaquez told the Los Angeles Times.

On Sunday, the Bruins will look to regroup against a Baylor defense built on intense ball pressure. Five Bears have six or more steals, led by Dale Bonner with 11.

UCLA’s defense has held its four opponents to a combined 28.2 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Bruins face a Baylor offense connecting on 38.8 percent of its attempts from deep.

–Field Level Media

No. 25 UConn closes a busy stretch of three games in six days on Sunday when Delaware State visits Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (4-0) will be facing a quick turnaround, playing their second game in three days after Friday’s 86-50 win over visiting UNC Wilmington. Coach Dan Hurley’s team has won nine consecutive home games between Hartford and Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies took steps toward full health, as junior Andre Jackson Jr. (concussion) and sophomore Jordan Hawkins (finger) returned after missing the majority, if not all, of the first three games against Stonehill, Boston University and Buffalo.

Hawkins canned five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, both career highs, in 25 minutes of action.

“We saw that a lot in the closed scrimmages and the preseason,” said Hurley, the fifth-year coach. “It was unfortunate that he got hurt in the opener and wasn’t able to get the fireworks going early. He looked sharp.”

Though Jackson took just a pair of shots and scored two points in 19 minutes, the co-captain’s presence was a lift to the team.

“He was rusty with some things, but the way he got after it, in terms of identity, we missed that,” Hurley said. “He’s the best leader I’ve ever been around as a coach or a player, and I’m not sure it’s particularly close.”

Reigning Big East Player of the Week Adama Sanogo logged 24 points as UConn’s leading scorer for the third time in four games. Rookie of the Week Alex Karaban continued his strong start, adding 12 points on three triples to round out the double-digit contributors for the Huskies.

The recent injuries to key players gave the likes of Karaban opportunities to play extended minutes, which will only benefit UConn as its challenges get tougher in the coming week.

“The depth really shows now,” Hurley said. “We have more depth and more quality than we’ve had, probably since I’ve been here.”

Sunday’s game will cap a season-opening, five-game homestand for the Huskies, who will then depart for Portland, Ore., to play in the Phil Knight Invitational over Thanksgiving.

UConn was 5-0 and 8-1 to begin last season.

Taming the Huskies will be yet another challenge for Delaware State (1-3), which has faced the ACC (Virginia Tech), Big East (Villanova) and Ivy League (Columbia) in its three losses. The lone win came against Division III Immaculata.

The Hornets kept things close in the first two games of a five-game road trip, including Wednesday’s 70-65 loss at Columbia.

O’Koye Parker scored 16 points and Khyrie Staten added 15 during the outing in New York, as Delaware State shot 61.3 percent in the second half to cut a 15-point deficit down to three in the final minute.

“(Stone is one of) three guys with some experience of playing, so they’re not new (to college basketball),” Delaware State coach Stan Waterman said. “They’re a little older, a little stronger.”

Brandon Stone and Staten are averaging 15.8 and 15.5 points per game, respectively, to top the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s Hornets.

–Field Level Media