JACKSONVILLE – In a 123-59 rout of Carver College, the Jacksonville State men's basketball team returned from a six-day break with authority to move above .500 for the first time this season.
The Gamecocks (7-6) met Carver for the fourth time on Tuesday night, and for the fourth time hung triple digits on the Cougars out of Atlanta. The 123 final score was JSU's second above 100 this season, and most in any game since scoring 125 against Brescia two years ago. The 64-point margin of victory tied for JSU's fourth-highest, matching the 2019 matchup with Carver which ended 120-56.
Sparking the runaway victory was Jax State's perimeter efficiency going 20-for-43 from deep for a new all-time three-point record. The previous mark stood at 19 triples made against Tennessee Temple on Nov. 12, 2007.
Overall, the Gamecocks shot 62-percent from the field and saw six players finish in double figures led by junior
Demaree King's 21. King paced JSU offensively for the second-straight game after a sensational 32-point day at Little Rock on Dec. 21. The Tulsa, Okla., native, is 18-of-24 (75%) over his last two games, including a blistering 16-for-21 (76%) from three-point range.
Senior
Brandon Huffman followed King with 20 to become the first Gamecock duo to each score 20 in a game since Huffman and
Darian Adams did so at Austin Peay in January of last season.
A trio of Gamecocks tallied 16 points in
Kayne Henry,
Jalen Gibbs and
Jay Pal, while
Jalen Finch pitched in 14 points to go along with his career-best 10 assists in his double-double performance. Assists were key throughout the night as JSU dished 32 of them on 48 made field goals. Overall, all 10 Gamecocks who saw the floor scored, including six points from
Tanguy Touze on consecutive treys. Henry cleaned up the glass with a team-high eight boards, just ahead of
Juwan Perdue (7) and
Semaj Henderson with six.
JSU scored the first 11 points of the night, but the margin would be cut back to four at 15-11. That's when a 14-0 stretch for Jax State opened the game up and the lead increased to 35 by halftime. Still battling down just 31 eight minutes into the second half, JSU pieced together a 13-0 run to grab a 91-47 advantage with 10:28 remaining.
The lead reached as many as 68 following a monster put-back slam from Perdue with just over a minute to play, before finishing just under that.
The Gamecocks return to action at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 30, at 3:00 p.m. against Middle Georgia State for the final non-conference contest of the season.
