NEW YORK _ South Carolina will wake up one more morning in The City That Never Sleeps.
Although Columbia, bursting with pride over its now-Elite Eight basketball team, is challenging New York for its nickname.
The Gamecocks rocked Baylor, 70-50, on Friday and took their NCAA Tournament ride to the furthest spot in program history, riding an 18-0 first-half offensive burst and their devastating defense. The Bears (27-8), trying to use their superior height and inside presence to their advantage, were completely undone by a smaller, quicker, nastier squad that is playing the best basketball its long-suffering program has ever seen.
The Gamecocks (25-10) surrounded All-American Johnathan Motley and tried to pressure every touch he got, holding him to 18 points. Seven-footer Jo Lual-Acuil didn't have much room either, and when South Carolina's first-half defense began collecting turnovers, USC sprinted ahead.
Baylor didn't score for 7:37 as the Gamecocks' offense found its rhythm. South Carolina ran off 18 straight points after trailing 15-13 and took a 37-22 lead into the break.
South Carolina coach Frank Martin cautioned his team at the break about not letting up, about finishing the job it started. The Gamecocks responded by taking a 21-point lead, and while Baylor ran off 10 straight points to get back in the game, South Carolina still had its biggest gun ready to fire.
Sindarius Thornwell, who started 1 of 6 from the field, banged a 3-pointer from the left wing to stop the run and fellow senior Duane Notice did the same, after Maik Kotsar found him following an offensive rebound. The lead restored to 17 and the crowd back into it, the Gamecocks finished the final nine minutes on a tear.
Thornwell finished with 24.
Martin became South Carolina's all-time winningest coach in the NCAA Tournament (3-0) in his first try while he also has notched two of the three winningest seasons in program history. The Gamecocks' program-high for single-season wins is 25 and Martin has gotten there in each of the past two years.
South Carolina will play the Wisconsin-Florida winner on Sunday at a time to be determined. The Gamecocks split two games with the Gators this season, each team winning on their home court.
