Jaden Shackelford had 21 points and Jahvon Quinerly added 20 to lead No. 24 Alabama to a 90-71 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night.The Crimson Tide (19-10, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) built a big lead and brushed off a second-half comeback attempt by the Gamecocks (17-11, 8-8). Alabama has won five of its last six games.
Quinerly and Shackelford both made four 3-pointers. Quinerly went 4 of 5 from 3-point range, all in a first half when he scored 18, and had five assists. He delivered 17 second-half points and 19 overall against Vanderbilt earlier in the week when he was benched at the start for lack of defensive effort.Keon Ellis added 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Alabama. Charles Bediako scored 11 pointds, and JD Davison added 10.
Erik Stevenson had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds for South Carolina. James Reese V added 14 points and Jermain Couisnard had 13. It's the first time in three games Cousinard has failed to reach the 20 point mark.
South Carolina did make it interesting for awhile in the second half.T he Tide built a 23-point halftime lead on hot shooting, especially from Quinerly and Shackelford. Then the Gamecocks cooled them off considerably, pulling to 58-52 on Erik Stevenson's fast-break layup eight minutes into the second half.
The Tide came out hot, making nine of 10 shots during one first-half stretch and getting their first four makes from 3-point range. Shackelford hit back to back 3-pointers to help Alabama pull away again. That came after Alabama missed its first nine shots of the second half.
South Carolina couldn't sustain the momentum of its first four-game league winning streak in February since joining the SEC in 1992. Committed 15 turnovers in the 1st half and 19 for the game. Alabama is still struggling to put a 40-minute game together but built enough of a lead to weather the second-half slump. The Tide made 9 of 18 3-pointers in the first half.
South Carolina has two regular season games left and have clinched a winning regular season regardless of the outcome. The Gamecocks host Missouri Tuesday night at 7 PM and then travel to Auburn Saturday that game is slated for a 1 PM tip off.