Gamecocks win first SEC home game of the season on Senior Day. What we learned
For the last couple of months, men’s basketball fans at Colonial Life Arena haven’t had much reason to cheer.
Heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale against visiting Georgia, the Gamecocks hadn’t won a home game in the calendar year 2023. Under first-year head coach Lamont Paris, the USC last won at home Dec. 30 against Eastern Michigan and were winless at home in the eight games since SEC play began.
Saturday represented the final opportunity for the Gamecocks (11-20, 4-14 SEC) to send CLA fans home satisfied. Though it didn’t come easily, the Gamecocks gave their fans a 61-55 victory.
The game was a back-and-forth brawl, much like the first meeting between the teams in Athens on Jan. 28. The Gamecocks and Bulldogs battled through overtime in that one, with Georgia edging USC 81-78. The win snapped a 12-game losing streak UGA had against the Gamecocks that dated back to 2017.
The Gamecocks will next play at SEC men’s tournament in Nashville. With the win, the Gamecocks locked in the No. 12 seed and project to play Ole Miss at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Nashville, with the final tournament seeding decided by the remainder of Saturday’s SEC games.
“I’ve never been around this much growth in terms of this many individuals that have made significant growth or a team that has grown as much as this team has,” Paris said after Saturday’s win. “So that’s why I’m so excited about winning this game this way with these guys and getting ready to go to Nashville, and let’s just go play.”
Senior Day for USC
Saturday’s final regular-season game marked Senior Day for the Gamecocks, which was a somewhat muted celebration for a team largely composed of underclassmen and juniors.
Sixth-year veteran Hayden Brown, a preseason transfer from The Citadel, was the lone player honored for the Gamecocks. Joined by athletic director Ray Tanner at the center of the court, Brown received a framed No. 10 jersey and gave Paris a warm hug as fans applauded.
“For the past like two weeks, I’ve been thinking about (Senior Day),” Brown said. “Honestly, I can’t help it. Because it has been the last six years of my life, like it’s a big chunk. It’s a formative six years of somebody’s life. And so what the game has meant to me, where it’s taken me, who I’ve me, the memories I’ve had, it’s so sweet. I thank God every single day that he’s kept me along the way.”
The CLA fans had reason to explode again minutes later, when Brown fittingly opened scoring for the day with an explosive follow dunk.
The 24-year-old, 6-foot-5 forward has been a valuable asset and starter for the Gamecocks all season, playing every position in the frontcourt from small forward to center and providing much-needed leadership to a makeshift, transfer-heavy group.
Brown finished third in scoring for the Gamecocks with 13 points Saturday on 5-of-10 shooting, adding five rebounds. Junior point guard Meechie Johnson led USC with 18 points.
“Today was just a different day, was more special,” Johnson said. “Not just for a win but to win for Hayden. This guy is probably the best leader I’ve been around from on the court, off the court, like he’s a true example of character, a man of God. I’m sure everybody else in the locker room really just wanted to get that win just for him and send him out the right way.”
The Gamecocks notably didn’t honor senior Chico Carter Jr., who hasn’t played since Feb. 14 due to knee tendinitis. The Columbia native and former Cardinal Newman standout has another season of eligibility remaining and could return to the Gamecocks next season.
Last home game for Jackson?
As soon as South Carolina’s season ends in next week’s SEC tournament, speculation is sure to abound regarding star freshman forward GG Jackson.
Supposed to be a senior in high school this season, the former Ridge View star famously reclassified to the 2023 class, decommitted from North Carolina and flipped to the hometown Gamecocks. Though Jackson entered the game as USC’s leading scorer with 15.3 points per game and as the nation’s sixth highest-scoring freshman, the 6-foot-9 forward has had his share of turbulent moments, too.
Jackson went from the starting lineup to the bench for a three-game stretch following a social media rant about not getting the ball in crunch time, and there have been moments this season when coaches have pointed to poor body language and a lack of effort from Jackson in games where he’s struggling.
Other than Jackson himself, no one knows for sure whether the phenom will remain with USC for another season, declare for the NBA Draft or take another route. Saturday might’ve been his last game in front of the hometown fans at CLA.
The game started quietly for Jackson, who missed his first three field goals and didn’t make his first bucket, a 3-pointer, until there were fewer than six minutes left in the first half.
Jackson went on to finish with 9 points on 3-of-10 shooting. Paris didn’t have any light to shed on Jackson’s status after the game.
“I don’t know,” Paris said. “I haven’t thought too much about that. Guys have opportunities, and they work hard for those opportunities, and should opportunities present themselves to him and he decides to do that, I’m his No. 1 fan. ... But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. We got more basketball to play.”
Home-court disadvantage
For whatever reason, the Gamecocks had one of their worst home seasons since Colonial Life Arena opened 20 years ago.
Before this season, USC had never lost more than seven games at CLA and its longest home losing streak was five games. The Gamecocks broke both dubious records by losing the first eight SEC home games they played this year.
Before Saturday’s win over Georgia, USC had some of its best moments away from CLA, defeating Kentucky at Rupp Arena for the first SEC win of the Paris Era and adding road wins against fellow SEC cellar-dwellers LSU and Ole Miss.
This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 3:24 PM.
