South Carolina runs away from Marquette

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sindarius Thornwell scored 29 points, leading a big second half for South Carolina in a 93-73 victory over Marquette in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

P.J. Dozier pumped in 21 points and Duane Notice and Chris Silva each added 10 points for seventh-seeded South Carolina (23-10).

The Gamecocks, who were spurred on by a partisan home-state crowd, play in the second round against second-seeded Duke (28-8), which ousted Troy with an 87-65 victory in the first game of the evening.

JaJuan Johnson scored 16 points, Andrew Rousey and Markus Howard both had 13 points and Sam Hauser contributed 12 points for 10th-seeded Marquette (19-13), which ended up with its most lopsided loss of the season.

South Carolina appeared primed to deliver a knockout blow a couple of times in the second half, but Marquette had enough answers to stay within range.

Thornwell's 3-pointer made it 76-67 with less than seven minutes to play, with that basket perhaps making the biggest impact.

Thornwell has scored at least 20 points in nine of the last 10 games.

South Carolina used a 13-0 run that wiped out a 49-44 deficit early in the second half.

Marquette led 40-39 at halftime, with both teams shooting 48 percent from the field and both sides charged with six turnovers. However, Marquette was dealing with some marginal foul trouble with for players picking up two.

The Golden Eagles only lost twice during the regular season when leading at the half.

The outcome denied a second-round matchup involving Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski against his alma mater, Duke.