Gamecocks’ poor luck in SEC continues as Missouri rolls past USC
The slide continues.
Looking for some hint of a silver lining in a tumultuous season, the South Carolina men’s basketball team instead lost for a fifth game in a row Saturday — one loss shy of the team’s longest losing streak under Frank Martin.
Facing a No. 20 Missouri team that had lost three straight games, the Gamecocks allowed the Tigers to shoot 58% from the field in a 93-78 shootout at Colonial Life Arena.
Many of the same intangibles that have plagued South Carolina throughout the season once again emerged against the Tigers, with the Gamecocks unable to match Missouri’s physicality and effort.
“We don’t make contested layups, we don’t make contested plays, when the ball’s on the balance, it’s just there, go get it,” head coach Frank Martin said after the loss. “We just haven’t made those plays. ... For 35 years, my players have never gotten out of the way. We get out of the way this year. And it’s very, very frustrating.”
Time is running out to turn things around. Only three games remain on South Carolina’s (5-11, 3-9 SEC) regular season schedule, and Martin said after the game “there’s nothing in stone” as far as USC making up any of the four games that were postponed due to COVID-19. Three other games — and one exhibition — were canceled due to the virus.
At this point, the Gamecocks are playing for personal pride.
“The season is not over with yet,” sophomore guard Trae Hannibal said. “So we just got to keep going hard, and we just got to keep positive energy. And I think we faded a couple of times. We’ve got a couple of losses in the past couple weeks. But I think this week coming around, we’ll turn it back around.”
3 observations from USC-Missouri
1. USC defense falters
Looking back at the team’s last four losses, senior guard Seventh Woods said before Saturday’s game that the Gamecocks had two defensive keys to focus on against Missouri.
“Transition defense and getting on the defensive glass,” Woods said. “I feel like a lot of guys get a lot of second-opportunity points against us, so that will be our two main points for us.”
In USC’s road loss to Tennessee on Wednesday, 18 Gamecocks turnovers allowed the Vols to run wild, with Tennessee scoring 25 points off of turnovers and 16 fast break points.
USC did a better job of holding on to the ball against Mizzou on Saturday, with just six turnovers in the first half — compared to 12 at Tennessee. However, the Tigers turned those six turnovers into 12 points, as the Gamecocks still struggled getting back in transition, setting up easy baskets in the paint.
“Transition defense, I will say it was bad in spurts,” said Hannibal, who scored a career-high 15 points. “As the game went on, some of the things we did, it shouldn’t happen. They were just out-hustling us. We just got to do a better job of that. And that’s us. That’s our effort. So we just got to fix that and just be ready when our numbers are called.”
USC was more successful with its other key — crashing the glass. Second-chance points weren’t an issue for USC on Saturday, with the Tigers pulling down just three offensive rebounds and scoring four second-chance points all game. But the Gamecocks did have issues guarding the paint, much like they did in their first meeting against the Tigers.
Missouri scored nearly half of its points in the paint, led by the dynamic frontcourt duo of Jeremiah Tilmon and Kobe Brown, who combined for 29 points.
“We just really continue to search for somebody to take ownership to help us defend better,” Martin said. “Defensively we’re really bad.”
2. Offensive inconsistency
The Gamecocks simply couldn’t make shots in the first half against the Tigers, shooting 28% from the field, 29% from the 3-point line and just 44% from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Mizzou shot 50% in the first half and a whopping 65.5% in the second half.
USC seemed to find some rhythm early in the second half, with the Gamecocks narrowing the deficit to seven points 10 minutes into the period. But just when it seemed as though USC had a chance for a second-half comeback, a series of fouls and turnovers allowed Missouri to go on a 19-7 run, expanding the Tiger lead to 20 points.
“We came out with energy a little bit in the second half, but the fouls started getting out of hand,” Hannibal said. “And as for myself and the rest my teammates, we just got to work with better on-ball defense, just being in gaps, being there for each other, helping each other on defense.
“They were out-hustling us in all types of positions — from rebounding, 50-50 balls. We just got to be better as a team, hustling and doing things like that.
Junior A.J. Lawson scored 22 points to continue his career-best season, and Keyshawn Bryant added 15. But ultimately, USC could never stop Mizzou on the defensive end.
3. Couisnard out, Minaya returns
Martin said on his Carolina Calls radio show Thursday night that starting two-guard Jermaine Couisnard likely wouldn’t play against Missouri and would sit out a second straight game with a left ankle injury. Martin said junior Justin Minaya’s status was more up in the air. Minaya injured his head after an on-court collision in USC’s Feb. 13 loss to Ole Miss.
On Saturday, forward Nathan Nelson drew the start in place of Minaya but was replaced by Minaya four minutes into the contest. Minaya put up a double-double at Mizzou on Jan. 19, but he couldn’t replicate that success on Saturday. He scored five points on 1-for-5 shooting and pulled down five rebounds.
Couisnard did not dress for Saturday’s game. He wore a boot on his left foot.
Next USC basketball game
Who: South Carolina (5-11, 3-9 SEC) at Mississippi State (11-11, 5-8)
Where: Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 4:14 PM.
