South Carolina defeats Eastern Michigan as GG Jackson, Emoni Bates duel

South Carolina finished its non-conference schedule with a home victory, defeating Eastern Michigan 74-65 in Colonial Life Arena on Friday night.

The Gamecocks (7-6) led for most of the game, and never trailed after a Chico Carter Jr. 3-pointer put them up 13-11.

Emoni Bates led the way for the Eagles (3-10), finishing with a career-high 36 points. The Gamecocks, though, managed to keep the other Eastern Michigan players at bay.

South Carolina’s GG Jackson scored a team-high 24 points, and Carter Jr. added 15. Daniel Hankins-Sanford had good production off the bench for USC, with eight points in 11 minutes.

South Carolina will travel to face Vanderbilt for its next game, beginning SEC play, at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

JACKSON VS. BATES

The highlighted matchup for Friday’s game was between star forwards GG Jackson and Emoni Bates. NBA scouts attended the game to see the young prospects play head to head.

Both players are young for their classes. Bates entered his freshman year at Memphis at 17 years old before transferring to the Eagles. Jackson turned 18 earlier this month for South Carolina, and reclassified to play for USC after decommitting from North Carolina’s Class of 2023.

Jackson recalled watching Bates play at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam as a high-schooler. When Jackson saw Eastern Michigan on the schedule, the prospect of facing Bates brewed excitement for him.

“I told all my high school friends, and they were like, ‘Hey, you gotta put your boots on! You gotta lock up!’ ” Jackson said.

Jackson took on the challenge of guarding Bates at times Friday. Head coach Lamont Paris said it wasn’t fully by design for Jackson to stick Bates early on, but added he had conversations with Jackson on how he wanted him to guard Bates when they did get matched up.

“There were a lot of little nuggets that we went over because GG’s probably never guarded a guy like that, that’s that talented offensively and is a high-volume, high-usage guy like that,” Paris said.

The Gamecocks gave Bates several different looks from a variety of different defenders, but he found his offense all night long.

Bates ended with 36 points and eight 3-pointers, making contested shots in the half court set and sometimes stepping into deep 3-pointers. Paris and Jackson attributed some of Bates’ open looks to miscommunication on defense. The times Jackson was matched up with Bates, he embraced the challenge.

“I just wanted to get after it and show the coaches my competitive spirit to try to want to stop him,” Jackson said.

Jackson scored 24 points and rounded out his stat line with nine rebounds and four 3-pointers.

The two traded shots at times as well. Bates knocked down a 3-pointer over Jackson in the first half, and Jackson matched it a few plays later with a post fade-away over Bates.

Bates stepped into a deep second-half triple, and Jackson matched it with a long range shot of his own.

Bates took the bulk of the shots for the Eagles, making contested jumpers inside and outside the arc throughout the game. Jackson got his share of inside shots, but ended with four 3-pointers of his own.

“I thought he let the game come to him about as much as a newly 18-year-old guy can let the game come to him under the circumstances,” Paris said. “It’s hard to say that when he shot the ball 19 times. That was like five games worth of shots for me, it seems like.”

“...I wonder how long (Jackson)‘s been hearing about this matchup, and from how many outlets someone’s been saying something to him about it. So overall, I thought he did a pretty good job of trying to stay within his game.”

GATOR BOWL GRABS ATTENTION

The Gamecocks’ football team played its Gator Bowl matchup as the men’s basketball game was starting.

Fans were let in 30 minutes earlier to watch the football game on the big screen inside the stadium. The final minutes trickled into the first half of the basketball game.

The official attendance was listed at 9,023, though the crowd was much smaller than that.

The fans were felt the most in the first half when Zachary Davis powered in a tip-dunk after a missed USC jumper, leading to an Eagles timeout.

“We see his athletic ability in practice, and it was good to see him get one in a game,” Carter Jr. said.

CONFERENCE PLAY IS COMING

South Carolina begins SEC play on Tuesday when it visits Vanderbilt. This will be Lamont Paris’ first full-time SEC schedule as a head coach.

The team has been figuring itself out in the early season. It hasn’t won more than two games in a row and dropped three straight at one point. Still, it has four players averaging more than 10 points per game and has won its past two games.

USC is off tomorrow, but will resume practice on Saturday and set its sights on the Commodores.

Paris said he will evaluate the team based on the way they grow throughout the season, and 13 games in, he wants the Gamecocks to find ways to display consistency. He also said that he’s “excited” about where the team stands from a learning standpoint.

“I think we have moved to the point where, conceptually, we understand things,” Paris said. “We see some things a little bit better. ... Are we ready to start putting that stuff together or not?”

NEXT FOUR USC MBB GAMES

Tuesday: at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Jan. 7: vs. Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

Jan. 10: at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Jan. 14: vs. Texas A&M, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)