COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina (6-1) scored 13-straight points, part of an 18-4 first half run, knocking the Hilltoppers in a hole from which they could not recover, downing Western Kentucky University (2-3) 74-56 on Wednesday night at the Colonial Life Arena.  WKU has now suffered back-to-back losses for just the second time in the Ken McDonald era.  They have never dropped three-in-a-row. 

WKU connected on their first three shots from the field, two from Steffphon Pettigrew, as the Toppers led early 6-4 with 18:16 on the clock.  Pettigrew scored eight of his 11 in the opening stanza, adding six rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes.  It was the junior's 20th double figure scoring game in his last 23 regular season outings. 

The lead, however, was short-lived by the Hilltoppers, and unfortunately their last, as Brandis Raley-Ross drilled back-to-back treys igniting the 13-0 run, capped off by Ramon Galloway's jumper with 14:47 left to make it 17-6, forcing a Topper timeout. 

On the ensuing possession, Nemanja Milosevic converted a pair of free throws to halt the run, but Sam Muldrow connected from long range amd South Carolina increased the bulge to 25-10 with 12:02 to play.  Seven different Gamecocks scored in the 18-4 run, fueled by 5-of-6 shooting from the three-point line. 

AJ Slaughter ended a nearly eight-minute field goal drought for WKU with 10:36 on the clock, but the Toppers were unable to chip away at the deficit heading into the break.  Caden Dickerson's three from the left baseline with 39 ticks left set the halftime margin at 39-25.  It was the first triple of the game for the Hilltoppers. 

Despite just a one-point edge in rebounding in the first half, South Carolina led in second chance points 13-3. 

The Hilltoppers scored the opening five points of the second half, three from Jeremy Evans and a driving lay-up from Anthony Sally, to trim the deficit to 39-30 with 18:49 left, forcing a quick Gamecock timeout.  After USC pushed it back to a dozen, WKU crawled back within eight on a Slaughter fastbreak three-pointer with 16:11 on the clock, making it 44-36. 

That was as close as WKU would get, however, keeping it within a managable 10-point range until inside of nine minutes to play as South Carolina got another Muldrow triple to push it back to the halftime hole of 14. 

WKU won the rebounding battle 42-38, but shot a chilly 34.4 percent from the field including 3-of-18 from long range (16.7 percent).  Slaughter scored a team-high 12 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 23-straight games.  Evans turned in a nine-point, eight-rebound, two-block effort while Cliff Dixon provided nine points, eight rebounds, and a pair of steals in 14 minutes off the bench. 

South Carolina connected on 9-of-22 from beyond the arc (40.9 percent) and shot 45.5 percent from the field for the game.  Senior guard Devan Downey scored 12 of his team-best 15 in the final frame while Muldrow and Raley-Ross each chipped in 12, part of five Gamecocks in double figures. 

WKU returns home for the first of two-straight at Diddle Arena when the Hilltoppers host Tulane on Sunday, December 6 at 1:00 PM.  The Tops knocked off the Green Wave 82-67 in New Orleans, La. last year in the first match-up between the two programs since 1960.  WKU will be going for win number 500 in the 47-year history of Diddle Arena.

TEAM NOTES:
• WKU falls to 3-3 all-time in games against former coaches (0-1 against Gene Keady at Purdue; 3-1 versus Dennis Felton at Georgia; 0-1 versus Darrin Horn at South Carolina)
• For the fourth time in five games this season, WKU trailed at the half, this time down 39-25 to South Carolina
• WKU falls to 23-32 versus the 12 current members of the Southeastern Conference
• WKU falls to 9-18 all-time on the road against the 12 current member of the SEC; recent road SEC wins include Kentucky (2001), Georgia (2004), and Georgia (2006)
• Tonight's televsion broadcast on SportSouth marks the first of 27-straight TV games for the Hilltoppers
• WKU has now made a three-pointer in 676-straight games (dating back to the inaugural season for the shot in 1986-87), ranking sixth all-time
• WKU lost for the first time in the last 20 games when attempting more free throws than their opponents 

INIDIVIDUAL NOTES:
• Senior guard AJ Slaughter had 12 points to give him 1,072 for his career, moving past former backcourt teammate Orlando Mendez-Valdez (2005-09) and Bob Lavoy (1947-50) for 34th all-time; next up is former All-American Chris Marcus (1999-2003) at 1,113
• Slaughter extended his career-best streak of scoring in double figures to 23
• Jeremy Evans made his 101st career start tonight, moving him within in a tie with Bobby Jones (1981-84) for fifth all-time
• Steffphon Pettigrew has now notched double figures in 20 of his last 23 regular season games