Powell leads Gamecocks to 60-46 win over Temple

Temple's Dustin Salisbery (3) defends South Carolina's Tre Kelley (1) during the second half in Columbia Saturday. South Carolina won 60-46. (AP Photo/Perry Baker) COLUMBIA — Senior forward Carlos Powell scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half as South Carolina raced to a 16-point lead en route to a 60-46 win over Temple on Saturday afternoon.

Powell finished one point shy of his career high and had 13 rebounds for his fifth career double-double.

The Gamecocks (3-0) ran their record to 28-1 at home against nonconference foes under fourth-year coach Dave Odom.

Mark Tyndale led Temple (1-2) with 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting while Mardy Collins added 12 and nine steals.

South Carolina never trailed as Powell scored 11 points in the first 8:30 as South Carolina grabbed a 16-7 lead. South Carolina pushed its lead to 34-18 on one of two foul shots by Antoine Tisby with 44.8 seconds left in the half.

The Gamecocks led 34-22 at the half after shooting 50 percent against the Owls’ matchup zone and coming up with 14 second-chance points while outrebounding Temple 27-10.

Temple hit just 29.6 percent in the opening half and had one possession in which it missed five shots. The Owls pulled within 48-40 with 5:59 remaining. But Stephen McDowell hit a 3-pointer and Powell scored on a follow shot and two foul shots to stretch the Gamecocks’ lead to 55-40 with 3:55 to go.

Tre’ Kelley had 11 points and Renaldo Balkman added 10 and eight rebounds off the bench for South Carolina.

Odom was ecstatic after the victory, saying it should help build his team’s confidence. It was a ‘‘very, very good win for us. We obviously have a lot of work to do in a lot of areas. But that was an absolute quality win for us.’’

Odom said the ‘‘key stat’’ was rebounding, where the Gamecocks dominated 52-23 behind Powell, who had seven off the offensive glass where South Carolina had an 18-9 advantage. South Carolina’s season high for rebounds a year ago was 50 against Appalachian State.

Temple coach John Chaney said there were many reasons for his team’s rebounding problems, including two players — Collins and 6-foot-11 Wayne Marshall not starting after violating a minor team rule — along with poor decisions on offense, which led to poor shots and players being out of position under the boards.

‘‘We shot more shots than them, but they were bad shots. They were individual shots,’’ Chaney said. ‘‘When you start off without your key players, you lose control.’’