Jamarii Thomas scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half as South Carolina fended off a challenge from Mercer, pulling away for an 84-72 victory Thursday night in Columbia, S.C.

Collin Murray-Boyles scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for South Carolina (3-2), which bounced back from a loss Saturday at No. 16 Indiana.

Zachary Davis contributed 18 points off the bench and Jacobi Wright added 11 points and five assists for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina shot 49.1 percent from the floor and made 12 of 27 (44.4 percent) of its shots from deep. Mercer was nearly as accurate, hitting 45.6 percent of its field goal attempts, including 12 of 26 (46.2 percent) from distance.

Tyler Johnson hit four 3-pointers on his way to scoring 15 points for Mercer (2-3) of the Southern Conference.

Ahmad Robinson scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and finished with eight assists before fouling out with 5:25 left. Alex Holt and Angel Montas Jr. added 14 points apiece for Mercer.

The Bears were gunning for their first upset of a power-conference team since toppling Georgia Tech in 2020.

When Robinson made a 3-pointer with 10:47 left, it gave Mercer a 60-59 lead.

But the Gamecocks were the more efficient team down the stretch as they outscored the Bears 25-12 over the final 10:33.

Mercer’s hopes faded as it failed to make a field goal in a span of 6:01.

Myles Stute highlighted South Carolina’s charge with his lone basket of the game, a 3-pointer with 7:41 left that stretched the Gamecocks’ lead to 70-62.

In a tightly contested first half, there were 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than six points.

Playing under first-year coach Ryan Ridder, Mercer showed no nerves early as it hit its first three attempts from beyond the arc, including a pair of treys from Cam Bryant.

South Carolina finished with a flurry at the end of the first half as a 3-pointer by Cam Scott helped the Gamecocks to a 36-32 advantage at the break.