USC follows its upset road win over Florida with home loss to Mississippi State
The off-the-court COVID-19 issues have subsided, but the ups and downs remain.
Coming off an exhilarating, season-best road upset of No. 22 Florida on Wednesday, the South Carolina men’s basketball team faltered at home to Mississippi State (11-9, 4-6 SEC) on Saturday, losing to the Bulldogs 75-59.
The game marked the seventh straight game the Gamecocks have played after three separate COVID-19 pauses sidelined USC for much of December and parts of January. The Gamecocks have gone 2-5 in that span, unable to find consistency from one game to the next.
The Gamecocks actually held a 47-45 lead five minutes into the second half, but the Bulldogs went on a 23-4 run to seize a lead they’d never relinquish.
“We got absolutely destroyed in the physicality department of the game,” head coach Frank Martin said. “And today was the equivalent of going in to box and you’re fighting a guy that just hits you in the gut over and over and over and over. And eventually, you just can’t deal with it anymore.
“... It’s a shame. We had an opportunity today to build a little momentum, and we just didn’t do it.”
3 Observations from USC-MSU
1. A physical battle
The game opened in unusual fashion, as a pre-game scuffle led the referees to call a technical foul on 6-foot-7 MSU freshman Keondre Montgomery. South Carolina junior guard A.J. Lawson made one of two free throws before the ball even tipped.
Once the game started, both teams engaged in physical, aggressive play. The Gamecocks were in the bonus midway through the first half, and the teams combined for 23 first-half fouls, with MSU leading the way with 13.
Because of the constant whistles, neither team could get into much of a groove in the first half. The Gamecocks made just nine of 31 field goals, while the Bulldogs appeared to hit their stride at the tail end of the half.
The second 20-minute frame was cleaner for both teams from a foul standpoint, but the Bulldogs continued to bully USC inside, out-rebounding the Gamecocks 46-30. With the Gamecocks unable to make shots on the perimeter — they finished 5 of 25 from the 3-point line — the Bulldogs took advantage of their size in the paint to keep the Gamecocks from driving inside.
“There was a lot of people in the paint,” starting forward Wildens Leveque said. “They really wanted us to shoot a lot. That’s what they gave us. The paint was pretty packed. We were looking for shots in the paint, but we just couldn’t get it today.”
The Gamecocks scored just 24 points in the paint, compared to 50 in their win against Florida. It didn’t help that USC struggled to shoot from outside. Sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard made just one field-goal attempt on eight tries and was taking practice shots on the court after the game. Junior Justin Minaya went scoreless, missing all five 3-point tries. The Gamecocks missed 42 of their 61 shots.
Martin said he didn’t have a problem with the shot selection, but he didn’t like the way his team handled Mississippi State’s ball screens and play style.
“They bodied us, and then we gave into the contact and that physicality,” Martin said. “We got to play through contact. You can’t give into the contact, and today we gave into the contact.”
2. Lawson reaches milestone, can’t match Stewart
In the midst of a career-best junior season, Lawson added a key milestone to his South Carolina resume. Early in the first half, on a free-throw attempt, Lawson notched his 1,000th point as a Gamecock, becoming the 47th player to reach that mark in South Carolina history.
As it would turn out, Lawson’s three made free throws were the only points he scored in the first half, as the Bulldogs bottled up the USC offense and held the Gamecocks to 1-of-12 shooting from the 3-point line. But entering the contest with a team-leading 17.6 points per game, Lawson couldn’t be held down for long.
He opened the second-half scoring with his first 3-pointer (and field goal) of the game, and he continued on to score 13 points for the game, even adding a dunk midway through the second half.
However, Lawson couldn’t keep pace with Mississippi State leading scorer D.J. Stewart Jr. and struggled containing him on the defensive end. The 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore guard entered the game just behind Lawson with 17.1 points per game, but Stewart had the hotter hand. He diced up the Gamecocks defense for 29 points, making 10 of 17 field goals and four of six 3-point attempts.
“At the end of the day, it came down to the ball in D.J. Stewart’s (hands),” Martin said. “I think there were three open-court breakdowns for us defensively, where the guy we did not identify was D.J. Stewart. It was mind boggling. It’s disappointing. We can’t put to two good games in a row. It’s a roller coaster right now, and it’s really disappointing.”
3. Different arena environment
Opening a three-game homestand — by far its longest stretch of home games this season — the South Carolina men’s team provided a different kind of experience at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday.
A drum line played outside the front of the arena before the game, greeting fans as they walked in. Many stopped to take videos and pictures of the drummers on their phones.
Inside the building, the Gamecocks added a different flair to the pre-game experience, encouraging fans to remain standing after the national anthem while “Lift Every Voice and Sing” played over the arena speakers. Both teams stood for the song, and the socially distanced crowd cheered after it was played. Saturday was the first home game South Carolina has played during February, which is Black History Month.
“It was really powerful,” forward Wildens Leveque said of the moment. “As a team, we agreed to it. We talked about it.”
Next USC basketball game
Who: South Carolina (5-7, 3-5 SEC) vs. No. 10 Alabama (15-5, 10-1)
Where: Colonial Life Arena
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 5:34 PM.
