GAME NOTES: The first round of the Charleston Classic concludes on Thursday night at TD Arena with a matchup between the Cornell Big Red and the South Carolina Gamecocks

The winner advances to the semifinals on Friday to play either Penn State or Charlotte. The losers will also play each other in the consolation bracket.

Cornell is off to a great 2-1 start to the season, as it has already matched its win total from a disastrous 2013-14 campaign (2-26). The Big Red played their first home game of the campaign on Tuesday night and came away with a 58-52 victory over Colgate.

South Carolina won its season-opening contest at home against North Florida, 81-56, but then it dropped a 69-65 decision to Baylor on Monday as part of the Tip-Off Marathon.

In the only previous meeting between the teams back in 1970, South Carolina came away victorious, 83-60.

The Big Red dug themselves a 13-point hole against Colgate midway through the second half but turned it on late, closing out the game on a 28-9 run to capture the victory. Although they were outshot from the field, 45.1 percent to 38.8 percent, they gained extra possessions by winning the turnover battle, 14-10, and they outscored Colgate at the foul line, 14-1. Devin Cherry was the catalyst in the low-scoring win with 21 points while helping out elsewhere with five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Cornell hasn't been very explosive on the offensive end of the floor this season, shooting less than 41 percent from the field for 65.7 ppg, but its defensive effort (.371, 62.7) has been stellar. Shonn Miller is a mainstay in the paint with 16.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg. Cherry stuffs the stat sheet on a regular basis with 12.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 5.3 apg, and Robert Hatter (14.0 ppg) and Galal Cancer (11.3 ppg) are also off to strong starts.

The Gamecocks trailed Baylor for most of the second half earlier in the week, including by 10 with under five minutes to play, but while a late push brought their deficit to just two in the final minute, they could not complete the comeback. They were plagued by a lackluster 40.7 percent showing from the floor, including a mere 5-of-21 from 3-point range. Tyrone Johnson led the way with 21 points on 9-of-16 from the field. Sindarius Thornwell tallied 16 points, four assists and two steals before fouling out, while Michael Carrera and Marcus Stroman netted 10 points apiece. South Carolina, which scores 73.0 ppg on 45.9 percent field goal shooting this season, have six players who score at least 7.5 ppg. Johnson's big game against Baylor catapulted him to the team-leader in scoring with 16.5 ppg. Thornwell adds 11.0 ppg, and both he and Johnson hand out 3.0 apg.

Cornell appears poised for a much-improved campaign and should give South Carolina a run for its money in this one, but the Gamecocks' deep bench will make the difference.