COLUMBIA (Interstat) — South Carolina opened its men’s NCAA Division I season with an 81-55 victory over Stetson at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks improved to 1-0, while the visiting Hatters dropped to 0-2 after opening the season with a road loss at Clemson.

South Carolina led 42-25 at halftime and never let Stetson mount a serious second-half comeback. The Gamecocks controlled the paint and the glass, finished with a 15-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and turned 10 Stetson turnovers into extra possessions. South Carolina committed five turnovers and matched Stetson with three blocks. South Carolina was whistled for 18 fouls, while Stetson committed 17. The announced attendance at Colonial Life Arena was 12,113.

Juan Fernández, a 6-foot-11 forward from Santa Fe, Argentina, led South Carolina with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one block. Collin Kuhl, a 6-foot-8 forward, paced Stetson with 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Davion Hannah added 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Gamecocks. Aleksas Bieliauskas scored 10 points with four rebounds and two assists, while Jakub Nečas scored 11 points with three rebounds and one assist. Camden Heide contributed 13 points, two rebounds and two blocks for South Carolina.

Roman Miller scored 11 points with one rebound and one assist for Stetson. Kory Mincy had five points, three rebounds and five assists for the Gamecocks. Alex Doyle scored six points with one rebound and one block for the Hatters, and Mason Fuentes added four points and two assists. South Carolina shot 31-for-61 from the floor, 8-for-27 from 3-point range and 11-for-16 from the free-throw line. Stetson shot 19-for-44 from the floor, 6-for-16 from beyond the arc and 11-for-20 from the stripe. South Carolina finished with seven assists to Stetson’s four. Stetson scored 55 points on 58 possessions, an offensive rating of 95.7. South Carolina scored 81 points on 59 possessions, an offensive rating of 138.2.

Stetson started quickly when Magnus Entenmann made a layup on the opening possession. Aleksas Bieliauskas answered for South Carolina with a layup, and Collin Kuhl hit a jump shot to put the Hatters ahead early. Camden Heide made a 3-point jump shot to give South Carolina a 5-4 lead, but Kuhl answered with a 3-point field goal. Fernández then made a dunk and a layup as South Carolina moved in front. Kuhl made a free throw, but Jakub Nečas hit a turnaround jump shot and Heide finished an alley-oop as the Gamecocks began to separate.

Kory Mincy made a 3-point stepback jump shot to push South Carolina’s lead to 16-8. Alex Doyle made two 3-point field goals for Stetson, but Eli Sparkman answered with two 3-pointers of his own for the Gamecocks. Makhi Myles made a dunk for the Hatters, and Bieliauskas made two free throws and a layup as South Carolina continued to build its advantage. Heide made a free throw, Roman Miller made a 3-point jump shot for Stetson, and Nečas made two free throws and a 3-point jump shot. Nečas added a layup, and after Kuhl made a stepback jump shot for Stetson, Bieliauskas and Heide answered with a layup and a dunk, respectively. Roman Miller made a dunk and Magnus Entenmann made a free throw for Stetson, but Hugo López made a layup for South Carolina just before halftime to make it 42-25.

South Carolina opened the second half with a Heide 3-point field goal and a Fernández layup. Roman Miller made a driving layup for Stetson, but Fernández answered with another layup. Kuhl made a tip-in layup and a free throw, and after Fernández made another layup, Entenmann scored inside for the Hatters. Heide made a dunk, Bankston Pourchier made a dunk for Stetson, and Nečas made two free throws. Mason Fuentes made a layup, Bieliauskas made a layup, and Roman Miller made two free throws. Kuhl made two free throws for Stetson before Fernández made a layup and a free throw to push South Carolina’s lead to 60-39.

The decisive stretch came after Kuhl made two free throws to bring Stetson within 57-39. South Carolina responded with 15 unanswered points. Fernández made a layup and a free throw, Shane Blakeney made a 3-point field goal, Davion Hannah made a layup, Fernández made another layup and a free throw, Hannah made another layup and Fernández capped the run with a layup that gave the Gamecocks a 72-39 lead with 7:14 remaining. Stetson got a turnaround jumper and a free throw from Kuhl, a driving layup from Thiago Sucatzky, another turnaround jumper from Kuhl and a free throw from Roman Miller, but the Hatters could not close the gap. Davion Hannah made two free throws and a 3-point jump shot for South Carolina, while Mason Fuentes made a free throw and Miller McGowan and Jean-Ernest Boyomo Keedi each made a late 3-point jump shot for Stetson. Hannah finished the scoring for South Carolina with a layup, and Fuentes made the final free throw for the Hatters.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of South Carolina 83, Stetson 79. Interstat’s ELO system had projected South Carolina with a 95.5 percent probability to win. South Carolina had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -19.5. The total score of 136 went over the over/under line of 149.5.