Jan. 17, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Tennessee trails South Carolina 40-27 at halftime of today's game at The Colonial Center.

The Vols, who trailed by as many a 23 points, ended the first half on a 13-3 run to get within striking distance in the second stanza.

Tennessee's Scooter McFadgon, the SEC's leading scorer at 19.1ppg, did not score until the 2:00 minute mark in the first half and finished the half with four points.

Mike Boynton led USC with 11 points in the first half, while C.J. Watson and Brandon Crump each had six points to pace Tennessee.

Poor shooting and turnovers plagued Tennessee in the opening minutes. Tied 2-2, South Carolina went on a 12-0 run in the next five minutes to take a commanding lead.

The Gamecocks lead grew to 20 (26-6) on a jumper by Tarence Kinsey with 9:54 remaining. USC's recorded its largest lead at 37-14 with 3:55 to go before the Vols began to chip away.

The Vols ended the first half shooting just 25 percent and committed 10 turnovers.