After Trae Hannibal’s second straight 3-point tie to South Carolina within 20-17 with 11 minutes to go, Mark Smith started the attack with 3 and Dru Smith followed with a long distance.
By the time Dru Smith hit another 3, six minutes later, the Tigers were at 38-23 and cruising.
South Carolina recovered in the second half to reduce its deficit to 59-52 in Justin Minaya’s basket, with 10 minutes left.
Then the Smiths started again, with Mark scoring seven points and Dru four, while the Tigers increased the margin back to 73-56.
“We said to ourselves, ‘We need to nip this in the bud’ and that’s exactly what we did,” said Mark Smith.
Gamecocks were unable to respond. Missouri hit 57.6%, the second time this season that set South Carolina on fire, after setting the season’s record with 58.3% of its pitches in an 81-70 victory last month.
“We are still looking for someone to take possession defensively. Defensively, we are very bad, ”said South Carolina coach Frank Martin.
Missouri ended up with five players in double digits. Jeremiah Tilmon had 17 points from a perfect shot performance (5 out of 5 from the field, 7 out of 7 from the free-throw line), Xavier Pinson had 16 points and Kobe Brown 12, all in the first half.