South Carolina Gamecocks Earn Impressive First Win vs North Carolina A&T

The South Carolina Gamecocks' men's basketball earned an impressive first win of the season.

The South Carolina men's basketball team opened up their season on Tuesday night vs North Carolina A&T. The Gamecocks walked away with a 19-point win over the Aggies and started the season on the right foot.

Transfer Meechie Johnson led the way for the Gamecocks with 14 points. He also tallied five rebounds and four assists. Kobe Knox added 12 points of his own and Nordin Kapic had 13 as well. Perhaps the performance South Carolina fans will take the most out of is true freshman Eli Ellis having 11 points and five assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

South Carolina Gamecocks Light It Up from Three to Best North Carolina A&T

Mar 8, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

It was a very solid night of shooting for South Carolina. They shot 49.2 percent from the field 43.8 percent from behind the arc. The 14 made three pointers from Tuesday night's game are the most ever during the Lamont Paris era at South Carolina.

As for the Aggies, it was Lureon Walker and Lewis Walker who carried most of the weight. Walker finished the game with 22 points and shot 9/16 from the floor. Walker added in 16 points off the bench with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

While this one more than likely won't go down as a signature win for the Gamecocks, it is a positive sign for the program. Last season, the Gamecocks ended the year as one of the worst teams in the conference and failed to make the NCAA tournament after doing so the previous year. Head coach Paris was adamant about getting this team back into the mix, and starting this season off right will be a major key in doing so.

South Carolina's next game will be played on Nov. 9 vs Southern Miss. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with John Schriffen and former Texas head coach Rodney Terry on the call for the linear broadcast. It’ll be the 20th all-time meeting between the programs and first since the 1990-91 season.

It is expected that the SEC will be a highly competitive conference yet again this season. So if the Gamecocks want to get back into the fold this year, they will need to continue having performances like they did last night.