Sindarius Thornwell broke out of a deep shooting slump with a season-best, 22-point effort Tuesday night as No. 22 South Carolina remained unbeaten with an 81-69 victory over Auburn in Southeastern Conference play at Auburn, Ala.

The junior guard made a career-best five 3-pointers and also had seven assists and three steals while helping the Gamecocks (14-0, 1-0 SEC) win their conference opener as well as remain one of the nation's two unbeaten Division I teams. Thornwell entered the contest with a 28.6 percent 3-point rate, but he made five of eight from long range Tuesday.

"Our team isn't based on one person," Thornwell said in the postgame press conference. "Anyone can step up. It's big to start off the SEC (schedule) with a win."

Senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for South Carolina, which is off to its best start since the 1933-34 team won its first 17. Senior forward Michael Carrera and junior guard Duane Notice also scored 12 points apiece.

Senior forward Tyler Harris scored 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting for the Tigers (7-6, 1-1 SEC). Junior guard Kareem Canty added 21 points, and freshman guard Bryce Brown had 11, but Auburn's upset bit was sabotaged by sloppy play.

"I thought half of our 21 turnovers were just plays that we lost composure and just didn't take care of it," Tigers coach Bruce Pearl said.

Regardless, the Tigers also had no answer on how to slow down Thornwell, who broke the 20-point mark for the first time this season and the 10th time in his career. The big outing leaves him nine points away from becoming the 42nd player in South Carolina history to reach 1,000 in a career.

"Sin is a winning player," Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said in a postgame interview with the SEC Network. "Some guys look good dunking, some guys got an unbelievable inside-out dribble. Darius is a winning player. He makes winning plays.

"He understands what we want as coaches. He understands the situation in the game -- when to do things, when not to do things. He guards, he rebounds. I wouldn't trade him for anybody."

Auburn trailed by 16 early in the second half before senior forward Jordon Granger made two 3-pointers during a 9-2 burst to get the Tigers within 48-39. Carrera and Thornwell responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, and South Carolina was quickly back ahead by 15 with 16:50 to play.

The Tigers later rolled off nine straight points to get within 59-54 on a 3-pointer by Brown with 10:58 to go. A three-point play by Chatkevicius -- the basket was a dunk off Thornwell's terrific pass -- pushed the Gamecocks' lead back into double digits at 69-57 with 5:35 remaining.

South Carolina didn't let Auburn make another sustained run. Notice's driving basket and Carrera's two free throw made it a 15-point margin with 1:11 left as the Gamecocks closed it out and joined SMU (13-0) as the only undefeated major-college teams.

That tidbit means nothing to Martin -- who also isn't keen on discussing the meaning of being 14-0.

"That we've been good enough the last 14 and now we got Vanderbilt at home (on Saturday) and it will be 14-1 if we worry about the number that's already expired," Martin said.

Thornwell scored 13 points, and Notice added nine and the Gamecocks forced 15 turnovers while roaring out to a 43-30 halftime lead. Thornwell and Notice each knocked down three 3-pointers in the half.

Auburn held an early 9-6 lead after a basket by Harris before South Carolina rattled off the next 12 over a five-plus minute stretch. The Gamecocks' lead reached double digits for the first time when a dunk by senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas made it 22-11 with 10:36 remaining.

"We're playing a team that is undefeated, playing them at home," Pearl said, "and it takes about 10 minutes before we turn it up and really compete."

The Tigers scored the next five points to pull within six before South Carolina went on a shooting roll. The Gamecocks made six consecutive field-goal attempts -- five from 3-point range -- and took a 41-24 lead on Thornwell's 3-pointer.

Auburn tightened up defensively and caused South Carolina to miss five of its next six shots. However, the 30 first-half points were the fewest for the Tigers this season.

NOTES: South Carolina's 13-game winning streak in its longest since the 1969-70 club won 17 straight contests. ... Auburn played without junior G T.J. Dunans (knee), junior G Tahj Shamsid-Deen (shoulder) and freshman G New Williams (knee), while sophomore G TJ Lang (concussion) was cleared to play after taking an elbow to the face in last Saturday's win over Tennessee. ... The Gamecocks were last ranked higher during the 1997-98 season when they topped out at No. 5. ... The Tigers won six of the teams' previous seven meetings.