Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes scored 24 on Sunday in Houston’s 76-56 win at South Carolina. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
The Cougars and sophomore guard Quentin Grimes put their foot on the pedal early and never let up in their 76-56 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road Sunday afternoon.
Grimes, coming off 21-point performance against Texas State, lit up the Gamecocks for 24 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
Houston started off strong, hitting three of their first four shots to open the game with a 7-0 run.
The Gamecocks would answer back though with their own 6-0 run to cut Houston’s lead to one point four minutes through the first.
The Cougars outscored the Gamecocks 15-6 over the next seven minutes, extending their lead to 10 midway through the first half.
South Carolina answered back and cut Houston’s lead in half, making it a 28-23 game with just over four and a half minutes left in the half.
Going on a 11-4 run over the four minutes of the first half, the Cougars carried a 39-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Sophomore Nate Hinton led the Cougars with 13 first-half points and Grimes added eight half-quarter points.
The second half was the Grimes show. Over nearly a 13-minute stretch, Grimes scored 16 of the Cougars 19 points, including two 3-pointers.
Thanks to Grimes strong performance and Houston’s solid defense, the Cougars never let the Gamecocks get closer than nine points to them in the entire second half.
Up 62-52 with 3:38 left in the game, Houston closed the game off with a 14-4 run highlighted by redshirt junior Brison Gresham’s six points.
The Cougars shot the ball well from beyond the arc, going 9-17 from the 3-point line. Along with Grimes, Hinton also played well, scoring 17 and pulling down 11 rebounds.
The Cougars will look to build on the win 7 p.m. Wednesday when they take on UT-Arlington at Fertitta Center.
