CHARLESTON, S.C. – Ante Brzovic posted a career-high 34 points to help the College of Charleston men's basketball team to an 86-71 victory over South Florida on Friday night in TD Arena.
The win is the first of the Chris Mack era in TD Arena and the 16
th straight home opening win for the Cougars.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Charleston started the game on a 6-2 run behind a triple from CJ Fulton and an Ante Brzovic old fashioned three-point play.
- With 11 combined turnovers between the teams in the first ten minutes, neither squad was able to take more than a three-point advantage until a Brzovic three and Deywilk Taverez floater gave the Cougars a 29-24 edge with just under four minutes to play in the half.
- The teams traded points before the Cougars ended the frame going 4-5 from the field to enter the locker room up 33-32. Brzovic had 19 points in the first frame to lead all scorers.
- Charleston started the second half on an 11-2 run behind buckets from Brzovic, Jaxon Prunty, and Lazar Djokovic.
- Charleston took a 17-point lead at 60-43 on a Prunty three to erupt TD Arena. Meanwhile, South Florida struggled, going 0-4 from the field with nearly a three-minute scoring drought while the Cougars went 5-7 during the same stretch and never looked back.
KEY COUGARS
- Brzovic scored a career-high 34 points while shooting 60% from the field. He added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. His 12 made field goals are tied for the fourth most in a single game in the Cougar's Division I era and tied for ninth most points in a single game in school history.
- Fulton posted 16 points for his second straight double-digit scoring contest to go with six assists and five rebounds.
- Tavarez rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points for his second straight double-digit contest. The sophomore also grabbed six rebounds.
GAME NOTES
- Charleston shot 45% from the field compared to South Florida's 37%. The Cougars earned 24 points off of 16 South Florida turnovers.
- The Cougars also won the rebounding battle 40-37.
- In their first appearance of the season at TD Arena, Charleston held the lead for 33:50 of the contest.
UP NEXT
- The Cougars, now 2-0, return to action on Friday, November 15 for the Field of 68 Tip-Off vs. Florida Atlantic before facing Liberty on November 17.