TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama looked pretty good when Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton were struggling. The Crimson Tide were downright impressive when the two stars got hot.
Winston and Shelton combined to hit seven 3-pointers in the second half and No. 16 Alabama routed South Carolina 87-68 on Saturday, burying a team coming off a huge win over Kentucky.
"Alabama today played better against us than any team we've played this year," said Gamecocks coach Dave Odom, whose team lost by four points to No. 2 Kansas. "They smelled blood at halftime and came out and put a little more defensive heat on us."
Plus, Winston and Shelton went from hitting nothing to hitting everything.
They each had three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half to ensure the Tide (21-4, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) wouldn't even come close to becoming another high-profile victim of the Gamecocks.
Held to a combined six points in the first half, Winston finished with 19 and Shelton had 16 as Alabama remained unbeaten at Coleman Coliseum and won for the 10th time in 11 games. They were 0-for-7 on 3-pointers between them in the first half.
The Tide maintained a two-game lead over LSU in the SEC West and plays both the Tigers and overall league leader Kentucky in the next week.
"Basically, our destiny's in our hands," Shelton said. "If we win out, we can win the SEC championship. It's something that is our goal but it isn't going to happen if we don't come out Tuesday night (at LSU) and win, too."
Despite a strong start, the Gamecocks (14-9, 6-6) couldn't duplicate Tuesday night's 73-61 upset of No. 3 Kentucky, their first win over a ranked opponent in nearly 3 years. Alabama started a 33-8 run in the final 5 minutes of the first half to turn a one-point game into an easy win.
"We felt real good about our team for the first 12 or 15 minutes of the first half," Odom said. "Then they went on a run. We hoped we could throw water on that, then they came out even better in the second half."
Chuck Davis had 18 points and five assists for the Tide, which hit 18 of 21 free throws and was 13-of-27 on 3-pointers. Ronald Steele had nine points and nine of Alabama's 22 assists (on 28 baskets).
The Gamecocks, who were seeking to back-to-back games over ranked foes for the first time since 1997, fell to 1-7 on the road.
Carlos Powell had 15 of his 17 points after halftime for South Carolina, while reserves Josh Gonner had 15 points and Antoine Tisby added 12.
The Tide led 36-25 at halftime thanks to a late 10-0 surge sparked by Jean Felix over the final 3:14. Felix came off the bench to hit consecutive 3-pointers, win a scramble for a loose ball, collect two rebounds and hit two free throws during that span.
The Gamecocks didn't hit a field goal after Tisby's layup with 4:57 left. Powell made two free throws with 31 seconds to play but Shelton then rebounded his own miss and hit an off-balance shot at the buzzer for his only points of the half.
"We were ahead by (11) without Earnest really contributing," Tide coach Mark Gottfried said. "In the second half, both Kennedy and Earnest opened up the half with some big shots."
Shelton carried the last-second momentum over, hitting two quick 3-pointers after Tarence Kinsey opened with a 3 to cut South Carolina's deficit to eight points.
The Gamecocks couldn't come closer than 18 points after the Tide pushed the lead to as many as 28, losing for the fifth time in the past six meetings.
Shelton said the results changed in the second half, not the approach.
"We missed shots in the first half that we were wide open," he said. "In the second half, those shots started falling for us."
