AJ Lawson made a pair of threes in the first four minutes, but that was as good as it got for Lawson and South Carolina. South Carolina finished the day 6-25 from three, while Houston hit 6-9 from deep in the first half and finished 9-17 overall. South Carolina wasn’t much better inside the arc, and shot just 32 percent overall.

What should have been a good nonconference game between two teams trying to notch a resume-boosting win never really materialized due to South Carolina’s poor shooting. And while the Houston defense deserves credit, South Carolina missed open and contested shots with equal regularity.

“I’m not trying to pass the buck, I’ve got to figure out ways to get easier shots,” Frank Martin said. “But at the end of the day, when you’re open you’ve got to make a shot. Their guys didn’t miss when they were open. Ours did. So they won and we didn’t.”

Houston caught fire in the first half behind Nate Hinton. Hinton hit all three of his attempts from behind the arc and Houston shot 52 percent overall as it pulled out to a 14-point lead. South Carolina made a few pushes, but could never string together enough scores and stops to really threaten. South Carolina cut the lead to ten with just under four minutes to play, but Houston made free throws down the stretch to pull away. Defensively, Houston made a point of defending the paint, willing to take chances with threes instead of easy layups.

“We didn’t get back and try to guard the three-point line, we got back and guarded the paint,” Kelvin Sampson said. “They strictly became a half-court team.”

“Our team is pretty great at guarding you in the half-court.”

With no breakaway layups, Lawson struggled. He shot just 2-10 and was benched for a long stretch in the second half due to poor defense. South Carolina finished the game with just four fast break points and 18 points in the paint. Maik Kotsar, who led South Carolina with 12 points, thought South Carolina gave up on going inside too easily.

“If we do everything the right way we can attack the paint,” Kotsar. “That’s what our offense is designed to do. Get to the rim.”

Notes:

Jermaine Couisnard was aggressive, but his shot wouldn’t fall. He was just 1-11 shooting. … Keyshawn Bryant was quiet after his big game against UMass. He only played 14 minutes and Martin thought he didn’t look comfortable. … South Carolina missed 42 shots. Houston attempted 52. … Quentin Grimes had 24 points for Houston. Nate Hinton had 17 points and 11 rebounds. … Announced attendance was 11, 164. … South Carolina is off this week for exams and then returns to the court next Sunday at Clemson.