The Gamecocks overcame poor shooting and turnovers to beat the Broncs 65-58 in Keyshawn Bryant’s return.

South Carolina seemed to sleepwalk through the first 25 minutes of the game, flustered by Rider’s matchup zone. They trailed by as much as nine in the first half and could do little right. They shot less than 40% from the floor, were 2-10 from three, made just one free throw, and had nine turnovers. Rider’s undersized but quick lineup had controlled the glass for much of the half.

South Carolina started to wear down Rider in the second half and get to the rim, led by Bryant. Bryant, who was suspended for the first five games of the season, scored six points during a 9-0 run that gave the Gamecocks their first lead of the game with about 11 minutes left.

“It felt good being out there with my team,” Bryant said. “Most importantly it felt good playing against some other guys.”

A few minutes later, after a three by Jaelen McGlone pulled Rider within a point, Bryant sparked an 11-0 run. He scored on a baseline dunk, Erik Stevenson scored five points, and then Bryant converted a three-point play off a steal. He finished with a game-high 17 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and a couple of assists.

“He’s an established, successful high-major basketball player,” Martin said. “You saw the blocked shots, you saw the assaults on the rim.”

South Carolina didn’t dominate the game, but it did what it had to do to win a game. The Gamecocks finished plus-one rebounding, an even 40% from the floor and 30% from three, and after starting 1-7 from the line, finished the game hitting 14-19.

“We didn’t get better today, but compared to the last three or four years we didn’t win this game,” Martin said. “We figured it out, because we weren’t making shots, so we had to dig in defensively to get stops and create open-court plays and that’s what we did.”

Stevenson missed his first seven shots, including five threes, but scored all ten of his points in the final six minutes. Jermaine Couisnard added 13 points. Wildens Leveque had trouble against the smaller Rider defenders, but converted a key three-point play late in the second half and finished with nine points, six rebounds, and two blocks.

Notes:

Couisnard only played 16 minutes and sat out the final 9:49 with a “tweaked” groin. He was meeting with the trainers after the game and there was no word on the severity. … Dwight Murray led Rider with 15 points. … Dimencio Vaughn had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. … Frank Martin said he is not a candidate for any of the open coaching jobs across college football, but added, “If I am, we’re going to run it between the guard and the tackle.” … Announced attendance was 8,027. … South Carolina’s next game is Wednesday at Coastal Carolina.