Streak stopper: Gamecocks snap eight-game skid with road win over Ole Miss
At long last, it’s over.
Before Saturday at Ole Miss, the South Carolina men’s basketball team hadn’t won a game in a month — a road victory over Kentucky on Jan. 10 that has lost some of its luster with the Wildcats slumping.
Lamont Paris’ Gamecocks traveled to Oxford with eight straight losses under their belts, one of which came to the same Rebels team at Colonial Life Arena last month.
But in a back-and-forth affair — and with their star player on the bench — the Gamecocks finally found a way to finish off a game, defeating the Rebels 64-61.
Saturday’s contest was a battle between two SEC teams that badly needed wins. Ole Miss (10-15, 2-10 SEC) has lost six of its last seven games, and the Gamecocks (9-16, 2-10) came into the game in last place in the SEC.
Here’s what we learned from the USC win.
GG Jackson sits again
For the second straight game after going on a social media rant about “not having plays drawn up” for him, GG Jackson opened the contest on the bench.
Unlike the previous game against Missouri — in which Jackson played 26 minutes and scored 23 points off the bench — Jackson’s role on Saturday was notably smaller.
The 6-foot-9 star freshman has been the team’s leading scorer and offensive focal point all season, but against Ole Miss he played just six minutes in the first half and scored five points on 2-of-4 shooting.
Even with the lead changing multiple times at the start of the second half, Jackson didn’t check back into the game until the 12:10 mark and only attempted one field goal in the half. Paris appears to be sending Jackson a message that he isn’t bigger than the team. The freshman finished with a season-low 12 minutes — his previous low was 21 minutes against Tennessee.
By the end of the game, Jackson sat with a towel around his neck and untied his shoelaces on the bench, watching the Gamecocks seal the win from the sidelines.
Paris told radio announcer Derek Scott with The Gamecock Sports Network from Learfield after the game that he liked what he saw out of the group without Jackson on the court.
“The group with him in it wasn’t playing as effectively,” Paris said. “The lead was going away, and that’s never one guy. It’s a collection of other things that happened. Sometimes it’s just bad luck.
“... I was riding that group that was playing better. They were playing better. We were getting good ball movement. Ultimately at the end of the day, that’s my job. I tried to put us in better position to win the basketball game, and I thought that group had the energy and just the overall mojo that was allowing us to play better.”
Wright steps up
With Jackson not starting, sophomore guard Jacobi Wright has started the last two games in a smaller three-guard lineup.
Wright has taken advantage of that opportunity, especially on Saturday. Playing alongside Meechie Johnson and Chico Carter Jr. in the backcourt, Wright helped facilitate the offense with nifty passing, tallying a team-high four assists.
Then, at the tail end of the first half, Wright caught fire shooting the ball and helped the Gamecocks climb back from an early deficit. He finished the game with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, making three 3-pointers and adding five rebounds.
His biggest shot came with 38 seconds left in the game, a 3-pointer that put USC ahead 61-59 — a lead the Gamecocks never relinquished.
With the way Wright is playing, he might not relinquish his starting role anytime soon.
“He’s playing a lot,” Paris told Scott on the radio broadcast. “He’s been inserted into the starting lineup. And he’s performed well, particularly — he does some things he doesn’t get a lot of credit for defensively. He’s down there fighting with guys. We oftentimes have him on one of the top two scorers or usually the best scorer from the perimeter.”
Living and dying beyond the arc
This team loves to shoot 3-pointers. Only three teams in the SEC have attempted more 3s than the Gamecocks have this season, and USC ranks sixth in the league with a 32.5% 3-point shooting percentage.
The deep shot again factored heavily into Saturday’s game. The Gamecocks didn’t get going offensively until Hayden Brown made back-to-back 3s at the top of the key three minutes into the game. And fittingly, Wright’s 3-pointer essentially sealed the win for USC.
The Gamecocks shot nine for 25 (36%) from beyond the arc to take down the Rebels.
Next four USC MBB games
Tuesday: vs. Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 18: at LSU, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 22: Alabama, 9 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Feb. 28: at Mississippi State, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 3:09 PM.
