What went wrong in South Carolina’s home loss to Ole Miss
For the first time in a trying, stop-and-start season, the South Carolina men’s basketball team had the chance to play for an extended period at home.
The Gamecocks have spent more than a week playing and practicing at Colonial Life Arena after spending most of December and much of January in COVID-19 purgatory. After a thrilling road upset of a then-No. 22 Florida team on Feb. 3, a three-game homestand felt like an opportunity for USC to build momentum.
Instead, the Gamecocks lost all three games.
USC fell to Ole Miss, 81-74, on Saturday night to drop its third straight home game and fall to 5-9 (3-7 SEC) on the season.
“Very disappointing. I feel like (the Florida) game would have gave us a little confidence to keep going, but obviously it didn’t work out that way,” junior forward Keyshawn Bryant said after Saturday’s loss. “And we went back to our old self, playing the way we used to play. Three games, three losses in a row is just the outcome of us playing single basketball and not team basketball.”
Both Bryant and fellow junior A.J. Lawson blamed miscommunication, selfish basketball and players not properly executing plays as reasons for the three-game slide. Those are the same issues that have plagued USC throughout much of the season.
A lack of practice due to COVID-19 was likely to blame for at least some of those issues early, but the Gamecocks have now played nine straight games without incident and have gone 2-7 in those games.
“Nobody’s pointing fingers; it’s a team thing,” Bryant said. “So I feel like everybody’s frustrated that we’re not on the same page. This is not really a Frank Martin basketball team right now. If you want me to be technical, we haven’t been playing Frank Martin basketball.”
3 Observations from USC-Ole Miss
1. Lack of offensive execution
Sloppy ball-handling has been an issue for South Carolina over the last few games, with Martin saying repeatedly the Gamecocks need to take better care of the ball.
On Saturday, in the first half alone, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 11 times. And they added eight more turnovers in the second half as the Rebels pulled away.
Ole Miss entered the contest ranking second in the SEC in defensive scoring with 63.2 points allowed per game and 17th in the country in defensive efficiency in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. The Rebels play a physical style of defense, and the Gamecocks struggled to play through contact and work the ball inside, scoring just six points in the paint in the first half.
After South Carolina botched its final possession in a three-point loss to No. 11 Alabama on Tuesday, Martin stressed the importance for his team to get on the same page offensively. But the Gamecocks again appeared disjointed, especially in the first half, where they shot 37% from the field and made just 3 of 11 3-point attempts.
“(Ole Miss) came out hard and with a lot of effort,” Lawson said. “With us, we just kind of just settled for a lot of things and didn’t execute, and then we also gave a lot of turnovers. And we can’t do that. We have to take care of the ball and just execute whatever offense we have to do, whatever coach calls.
“We haven’t been doing that right. We got to learn the plays. Whoever’s messing up, just gotta get in with the coaches, watch film and get this thing rolling.”
As he has in the majority of games this season, Lawson finished as the team’s leading scorer, with 22 points. He’s averaged 19.1 points per game in SEC play. Sophomore forward Wildens Leveque was another offensive bright spot with a season-high 13 points.
2. Couisnard goes down
Sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard played just eight minutes Saturday before landing awkwardly on his left ankle while trying to score near the basket.
In clear pain, Couisnard slapped the court floor out of frustration and needed assistance walking into the locker room. He was able to put some weight on his ankle, but he held his foot in the air as he neared the locker room. Martin said after the game that he doesn’t yet know the severity of Couisnard’s injury, adding that all he heard was that Couisnard had minor swelling in his foot.
The team’s starting two-guard, Couisnard has struggled shooting the ball in recent games, shooting a combined 8 for 40 (20%) in his last four games prior to Saturday, including just 3 of 17 from deep.
Despite his struggles, Martin has continued to start Couisnard, saying the guard has developed into one of the team’s most vocal leaders. Bryant replaced Couisnard in the starting five in the second half.
Forward Justin Minaya also went down with an injury late in the second half but was able to walk off the court under his own power. Martin said Minaya injured his head after colliding with Lawson near halfcourt, but he didn’t think the injury was serious. Minaya was with the team in the locker room after the game.
3. Gamecocks can’t stop Shuler
An Irmo native, Ole Miss senior guard Devontae Shuler thrived in his hometown arena, dicing up the Gamecock defense for a career-high 31 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He sunk 2 of 5 3-pointers and added seven rebounds and four assists. However, he did turn the ball over seven times.
“Our inability to stop the other team’s best player is becoming kind of just a broken record right now,” Martin said. “And it’s not some mystery offense or some deception. It’s just manning up and having guys that are disciplined enough and connected enough to deal with a screen and not give in to the physicality of the moment. And that’s been a struggle for this team all year. It’s not something new. And we just got to keep battling, and figure out a way to get better there.”
Overall, Ole Miss shot 50% from the field, compared to 42% for the Gamecocks. The Rebels did much of their damage from the free-throw line, where they made 34 of 44 attempts.
Next USC basketball game
Who: South Carolina (5-9, 3-7 SEC) at No. 16 Tennessee (14-5, 7-5)
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
When: 8:30 p.m. Tuesday
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 8:21 PM.
