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. Best Price Asics Shoes Australia .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Asics Shoes Australia Online . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. http://www.australiaasicscheap.com/ . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Discount Asics Shoes Australia . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Asics Clearance Shoes Australia .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. BOSTON -- Emmanuel Mudiay learned quickly that in the NBA, shooters often benefit from a short memory.Coming off a rough game, Mudiay scored 24 of his season-high 30 points in the opening quarter Sunday night while helping the Denver Nuggets to a big first half on their way to a 123-107 victory over the injury-depleted Boston Celtics.One thing about this league that Ive learned from last year is theres always another game, said Mudiay, in his second season. You cant think about the last one. You just grow and move on from it. Thats the main thing I was thinking about.Mudiay, who went 0 for 7 from the floor Saturday night in Denvers double-digit loss at Detroit, shot 9 of 10 in the first quarter and had a season high already as he outscored the Celtics.The Nuggets led 42-23 after one.Wilson Chandler added 22 points before leaving with a left hamstring injury. Danilo Gallinari scored 16, and Gary Harris and Jamal Murray each had 12 for the Nuggets, who lost 16 of the previous 18 meetings in Boston.Isaiah Thomas led Boston, tying his season high with 30 points. Avery Bradley had 14.These signs arent good. Were not giving our all on the defensive end, Thomas said. We can have five starters out (but) you can definitely, its a mindset thing on that end, and weve got to do a better job on that.The Celtics were missing starters Jae Crowder (sprained left ankle) and Al Horford (concussion protocol), a high-priced free agent acquisition.Denver pushed its lead to 66-41 midway into the second and led 77-52 at halftime.Boston left the floor to a loud chorus of boos.The Celtics made a brief spurt in the third, closing to 84-69, but the Nuggets scored 14 of the next 19 points en route to a 103-83 edge after three.There was a smatteering of boos again when the game ended.ddddddddddddTIP-INSNuggets: Denver scored just 86 points in its loss at Detroit. ... G Will Barton missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle.Celtics: F Kelly Olynyk was also out and hasnt played this season while rehabbing his right shoulder. He was the only player on the floor minutes before the teams came out for pregame warmups, doing extensive shooting with a few ball boys in front of Bostons bench. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Olynyk is still on pace for mid-November.FAST STARTThe Nuggets emphasized getting off to a quick start after falling behind by 17 after one quarter against Detroit. They thought it was a bad pattern they had been getting into so far this season.We had to not lose the first quarter. We were losing the first quarter too much, Mudiay said. I just felt like we had to come out and do something about it. We cant be pointing fingers.THEY WERENT LISTENINGBefore the game, Stevens addressed his teams struggles on defense.Im not as concerned (with offense), he said. Again, my focus is on the defensive end of the floor with our team right now.Then the Celtics went out and allowed the Nuggets to score 77 points in the first half while shooting 64.4 percent, with a number of baskets coming off drives down the lane.UP NEXTNuggets: Close a five-game road swing at Memphis on Tuesday. They play at home for the first time this month -- and only the second time all season -- on Thursday against Golden State.Celtics: At Washington on Wednesday in their first matchup with the Wizards. Boston won all four meetings last season. ' ' '