GAME NOTES: A pair of 1-0 squads face off at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday afternoon as part of the Tip-Off Marathon, as the South Carolina Gamecocks play host to the Baylor Bears.

Baylor opened its season at home on Friday night, making easy work of McNeese State, 80-39, as it moved to 11-1 in season openers under coach Scott Drew. The Bears finished the 2013-14 campaign ranked No. 18 and are trying to work their way back into the national ranks after earning votes in the preseason poll.

South Carolina also got the campaign started off on the right foot in its home building, dismissing North Florida on Friday, 81-56, for its 10th straight victory in a season lidlifter.

These programs played in last season's version of the Tip-Off Marathon, with Baylor hanging on for a 66-64 home win to take a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series.

The Bears' opening contest was never in doubt, as they ran out to a 12-point lead seven minutes into the game and never broke a sweat from that point forward en route to the 41-point victory. The 39 points allowed were the fewest they have given up to a Division I opponent since 1958, and they were clicking on the offensive end of the floor as well, making 51.7 percent of their field goal attempts. Junior college transfer Deng Deng made a splash off the bench in his team debut, shooting 8-of-9 from the field for 16 points. Lester Medford dropped in 13 points on 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Johnathan Motley netted 10 points, and Rico Gathers was a force in the paint with nine points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

The Gamecocks too pieced together a convincing victory in the opener in a game they never trailed, running out to a 48-27 lead at the half before cruising in the second stanza en route to the 35-point victory. South Carolina outshot North Florida from the field, 50.9 percent to 34.0 percent, and scored 16 points off of 15 forced turnovers. Eight players scored at least six points in the balanced effort, paced by Tyrone Johnson and Demetrius Henry with 12 points apiece. Laimonas Chatkevicius netted 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench, Duane Notice (eight points) and Marcus Stroman (six points) combined to hand out 11 assists, and Mindaugas Kacinas just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

Even during a lackluster 2013-14 campaign (14-20), South Carolina was still respectable in its home building (9-7), so it should give Baylor a fight from start to finish. However, the Bears are simply the more talented team and will find a way to pull this one out down the stretch.