Local Teams

Quentin Grimes scored 24 points as Houston led from start to finish on the road to beat South Carolina 76-56 in in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday afternoon.

Grimes made 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range, while guard Nate Hinton had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and guard DeJon Jarreau scored 10 for the Cougars (5-2). Center Brison Gresham had eight points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Houston used a 41-29 edge on the glass and got out in transition to score 15 fast-break points.

South Carolina won the turnover battle, 17-9, but never got closer than 10 points in the second half. Forward Maik Kotsar (12 points) and guard AJ Lawson (10) led the Gamecocks (6-4) in scoring.

Houston started the second half where it left off in the first, with forward Fabian White snagging a rebound and then feeding Hinton with an outlet pass. Hinton lobbed one to Grimes for a dunk (and a 45-31 lead) in a sequence that happened in a flash.

South Carolina cranked up its effort, going to a full-court, 1-2-2 trap late in the second half, cutting the lead to 11. But Grimes answered with a short jumper and a free throw with 5:43 remaining.

The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Grimes' 3-pointer just 2:03 into the game.

From that point on, the closest Carolina got in the half came when forward Justin Minaya hit a 3 to cut it to 14-12 with 10:32 left. But Houston ripped off an 8-0 run in 42 seconds, starting with a Hinton 3-pointer.

In the first half, Hinton had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, who shot 51.9 percent from the field before the break and canned six 3s.

The Gamecocks, who have struggled with shooting, hit just 30.3 percent before the break.

Grimes slipped along the South Carolina baseline late in the game, and went to the bench, where a team trainer attended to his left leg. He returned a minute or two later, but played with a slight limp at times.

--Field Level Media