No. 5 Kentucky puts away South Carolina as losing streak continues. What we learned
The losses keep mounting.
Just when it seemed like the South Carolina men’s basketball team found answers in late January, the Gamecocks followed a three-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak. The third of those losses came Tuesday night in Columbia at the hands of John Calipari’s No. 5 Kentucky (20-4, 9-2 SEC) team.
The Wildcats defeated South Carolina 86-76, sinking Frank Martin’s Gamecocks (13-10, 4-7) into a deeper hole with only seven games remaining in the regular season.
“I’m obviously disappointed,” Martin said. “Our defense was not very good today and then offensively if we keep shooting 30% from the field, it’s gonna be hard to beat these kinds of teams. Just wasn’t real happy with our defensive personality today. That’s something that usually puts me in a foul mood.”
Here’s what we learned.
Another close one in Columbia
Colonial Life Arena has proven to be a hostile environment in recent years for Kentucky. Coming into the night, the Gamecocks were 3-2 at home against UK under Martin, including two straight home wins in 2018 and 2020. The last time the Wildcats came to CLA, guard Jermaine Couisnard stunned them with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Though the Gamecocks weren’t able to recreate the magic, they fought the Wildcats closely for much of the contest, going into halftime trailing by just five points and tying the game at 43-43 early in the second half.
Much like we’ve seen in games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Gamecocks went on runs by tightening up defensively, forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. But as has been the case throughout SEC play, the Gamecocks couldn’t sustain those efforts in the second half as the Wildcats pulled away.
“I feel like we just got to get over the hump and stay together down the stretch,” Couisnard said. “Everybody’s good in this league, so I feel like everybody’s gonna go on runs in games. So I think the main thing for us is stay together. And once they punch us, punch back.”
Battle of the bigs
Martin was blunt in his assessment of his frontcourt after the Tennessee loss, saying the play of his big men was “embarrassing” from both a scoring and rebounding standpoint.
The Gamecocks desperately needed production in the paint against a Kentucky team that came into the night leading the SEC in rebounding margin and featuring a forward in Oscar Tshiebwe who averages a double-double with more than 15 points and 15 rebounds per game.
The Gamecocks especially needed starting center Wildens Leveque to step up, who had averaged just 4.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in SEC play entering the night.
Leveque eclipsed both of those averages by halftime Tuesday, leading USC with eight points in the first half and pulling down five boards. An explosive dunk on an alley-oop by the Massachusetts product was a key play of USC’s late first-half run. He finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Starting at the 4, senior Keyshawn Bryant added to those efforts with 18 points and 14 rebounds of his own — good for his first double-double of the season.
But Tshiebwe and the Wildcats couldn’t be held quiet for long. After a somewhat muted first half, Tshiebwe finished the game with 18 points and 14 rebounds, pacing a UK offense that had five other scorers in double-digits.
Shots don’t fall
As close as the Gamecocks came to competing against the Wildcats, their lack of consistent shot-making prevented them from making the final push they needed.
USC shot just 38% for the game and just 25% from the 3-point line, compared to 57% shooting for the Wildcats. Dominance on the offensive glass — 22 offensive rebounds compared to eight for UK — and 23 points off UK turnovers helped compensate for some of those shooting woes. But ultimately, the Gamecocks didn’t make enough shots to win.
Next USC men’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina at Georgia
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 9:09 PM.
