earlier.Perron put the Blues up 1-0 3:09 into the secon

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- PJ Dozier came to South Carolina last season as coach Frank Martins first McDonalds All-America recruit. Things, however, did not go Doziers way.Just look at him now.Dozier had a career-high 21 points to lead the 20th-ranked Gamecocks to a 68-50 victory over Vermont and a 7-0 start for the second consecutive year.The 6-foot-6 sophomore topped his previous best performance of 17 points in a season-opening win over Louisiana Tech. Two games later, it was Dozier who hit the game-winning shot in a 70-69 victory over Monmouth.Its a dramatic step forward form 2015-16 when Dozier was regularly in foul trouble and routinely pulled from games by Martin because of sub-standard defense.Last year wasnt my year, Dozier said. This year, (Martin) has that trust in me.Dozier helped the Gamecocks to a 13-1 run at the start of the second half. Maik Kotsar had eight points in the charge while Dozier had a 3-pointer and a thunderous finish to an alley-oop pass that had the crowd on its feet as South Carolina took a 49-32 lead.The Catamounts (6-3) could not respond to taller, quicker South Carolina.Last year, Martin said Dozier committed the triple sins of turnovers, not defending and getting into foul trouble. This year, hes playing hard, hes defending and hes never in foul trouble, Martin said. Last time I checked, you havent seen any of those turnovers where he throws it to the guy at the top of the key so he can dunk it in the other basket.Dozier had three of the Gamecocks four 3-pointers. Kotsar had 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, mostly from close to the basket, while Chris Silva added 12 points for South Carolina.Dozier had six rebounds, as did the 6-9 Silva, along with three steals.Anthony Lamb had 14 points, the only Vermont player in double figures.THE BIG PICTUREVermont: The Catamounts have won 20 or more games in coach John Beckers five seasons and had a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and the NIT in 2014. They do it with a mix of strong-shooting upperclassmen and enough young talent to compete in the American East Conference. But Vermont doesnt have enough firepower to keep up with a top-20 team like South Carolina. The Gamecocks defense kept the Catamounts off balance most of the way as they fell behind by 14 points in the opening half.South Carolina: For their success last week in defeating ranked opponents Michigan and Syracuse, the Gamecocks are very much a work in progress. One starter, Kotsar, and four of the five players off the bench are in their first years at South Carolina and several times an animated Martin yanked players, loudly questioning their technique. He calmed in the second half with South Carolinas quick start.POLL IMPLICATIONSSouth Carolina should maintain its spot in the rankings as long as it stays undefeated.WORRIED COACHWith South Carolina in the rankings for the first time this season, Martin worried his teams mindset might be off facing Vermont following wins against ranked teams Michigan and Syracuse last week. Im glad this games over with, Martin said. I just had a feeling that because of the success of the last couple of games against name teams, we werent going to be as clean was we needed to be.LEARNING LESSONSVermont coach John Becker believes his players are on the right path to another successful season in the America East Conference. Theyre just not there yet. He said the loss to South Carolina exposed some flaws that will need to be fixed in the next month. I think we found were just not tough enough yet, he said.UP NEXTVermont gets almost a week off before starting three straight at home with Dartmouth on Dec. 7.South Carolina concludes a two-game home stand against Florida International on Sunday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Wholesale Custom Dodgers Shirts . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Babe Herman Jersey Large . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. http://www.customdodgersjersey.com/ . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Custom Dodgers Jerseys . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Cheap Custom Dodgers Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. ST. LOUIS -- Blues coach Ken Hitchcock calls his fourth line forwards the specialists. Lately, theyve simply been special.Kyle Brodziak got the tiebreaking goal 7:28 into the third period, lifting St. Louis over the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Saturday night.Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron also scored and Jake Allen made 30 saves, helping the Blues finish 3-0 on their homestand. St. Louis is 8-1-2 at home this season.The play of the Blues fourth line of Brodziak, Scottie Upshall and Ryan Reaves was the catalyst. The unit was a collective plus-3, had four shots and five hits.Were out here to do a job and if we dont do it, were told about it, Upshall said. But things have been going good. Weve turned things around here, a good week at home, and its good to chip in.Fourth lines are generally expected to provide energy and ice time until the playmakers can get back off the bench. Hitchcocks crew is showing rare skill so far down the roster.They make plays, Hitchcock said. They make smart plays. They make scoring chances. They caused the first power play that we got in the game. They create all kind of zone pressure. They were the one line in the first period that was able to maintain pressure in the offensive zone.Mike Ribeiro scored and Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for Nashville, which finished a three-game trip 1-2.The Blues snapped a two-game losing streak vs. Nashville but have dominated the Predators at Scottrade Center, winning five straight. Overall, the Blues have won six of eight against the Predators.Brodziak snapped a 1-1 tie with his second goal in three games. He put in a rebound off Upshalls shot after the pair entered on a 2-on-1 following P.K. Subbans turnover.I think for the most part all year we felt pretty good about generating chances, being in their zone and we felt that if we kept playing that way the goals were going to come, Brodziak said. And fortunately the last couple of games wevee been able to chip in.ddddddddddddPredators coach Peter Laviolette believed a cross-checking penalty should have been called against the Blues, which caused Subban to turn the puck over.I thought we were good for two periods, Laviolette said. They seemed to grab some momentum off of that power play to open the third period and shortly after that we just couldnt seem to corral it. They gained some momentum and I think the shots were seven or eight to nothing at one point there. We start the third and we just couldnt get going.Tarasenko ripped a wrist shot past Rinne to make it 3-1 with 8:24 left for his team-high seventh goal of the season. The goal came off a rush following a couple of Allen saves amid a Nashville flurry moments earlier.Perron put the Blues up 1-0 3:09 into the second period with a backhand rebound off Jay Bouwmeesters shot from the point. Perron has a point in each of the last four games.Hes really competitive at the puck, Hitchcock said. Hes got a big mans game at the puck that makes him a very effective player in the NHL now.Ribeiro tied it with a power-play goal 8:59 into the second by pouncing on a puck in the crease that had trickled through Allen after he got a piece of Craig Smiths shot. The Blues couldnt convert on two chances to clear the puck leading to the goal.James Neal had his six-game goal streak snapped for the Predators.Game notes The Blues acquired D Reid McNeill from the Penguins in exchange for F Danny Kristo. McNeill will report to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. ... Predators D Anthony Bitetto was sent to Milwaukee (AHL) on a conditioning assignment. ... Blues D Robert Bortuzzo returned after missing the last 10 games with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTPredators: Will host Tampa Bay on Monday night.Blues: Travel to Boston on Tuesday night. ' ' '