Playing short-handed for the second straight game, South Carolina (6-1) used an offensive outburst in the first half to pull away.
Sam Muldrow and Brandis Raley-Ross finished with 12 apiece and Ramon Galloway and Evaldas Baniulis chipped in 11 each.
“The general phrase is someone has to step up, but that implies someone has to do something they are not capable of,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. “We don’t need anybody to do that; we need everybody to do what they are capable of. I think every single guydid that.”
The Gamecocks took control with an early 21-4 run. They connected on 5 of their first 6 3-point attempts with four different players hitting from long range. The run lasted just less than 6 minutes and gave South Carolina a 25-10 lead.
“Anytime you spot a lot of points early, it’s just really hard to get back in,” Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald said.
The Gamecocks were 10-of-16 from the field in building the 15-point advantage, but went 6-of-23 the remainder of the half.
“We had to get back to guarding.” Downey said. “We sort of got after it during that early run and were able to keep the lead at a comfortable margin most of the way.”
The Hilltoppers (2-3) shot 34.4 percent for the game, but opened the second half on an 11-5 run to pull within eight points. They could never close the gap.
All this came with the Gamecocks playing without starting senior forward Dominique Archie (injured right knee). Starting forward Mike Holmes joined the injured list when he suffered a closed head injury with a facial fracture and is out indefinitely. He had surgery on Tuesday.
“We lost two key guys, so everybody has to step up,” Downey said. “It’s adversity. We just have to pull ourselves through it.”
A.J. Slaughter was the leading scorer for Western Kentucky with 12 points and Steffphon Pettigrew added 11.
This was the first time Horn faced his former team.
He coached at Western Kentucky from 2003-2008, going 111-48. Twice he took the Hilltoppers to the NIT, and in his final year, they advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
“I don’t think you ever want to play against people you care about,” Horn said.
“I’m still trying to find the positives in all of it, maybe selfishly for me.” he conutinued.
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