Fernandez's 20 points pace South Carolina past Stetson 81-55

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Juan Fernandez scored 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting and South Carolina beat Stetson 81-55 in the Gamecocks' season opener on Tuesday.

Camden Heide scored 13 points, Jakub Necas and reserve Davion Hannah each scored 11 and Aleksas Bieliauskas scored 10 for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks shot 51% (31 of 61) despite just a 30% effort (8 of 27) from 3-point range.

Collin Kuhl scored 17 points and reserve Roman Miller 11 for Stetson (0-2).

A dunk by Fernandez tied the game at 7 just a little more than 4 minutes in. The Gamecocks went on to outscore Stetson 19-9 in the next 9 1/2 minutes for a 26-16 lead. South Carolina stayed out front by double digits the rest of the way.

South Carolina led 42-25 at halftime.

The Gamecocks lead the overall series 5-3.

Up next

Stetson: Travels to face West Virginia on Friday.

South Carolina: Hosts Southeast Missouri State on Sunday.