Hokies held back: South Carolina basketball earns neutral-site win over Virginia Tech
Hold off the Hokies. That was the goal in the final minutes of the South Carolina men’s basketball team’s second game of the season. Playing Friday night at Spectrum Center, in front of a Virginia Tech-heavy crowd, USC had to weather the fiery Hokie offense.
A jump ball in favor of USC sealed a 79-77 win after Ta’Lon Cooper dove and tied the ball up with two seconds to play.
“Basketball season is back, ladies and gentlemen,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “What a game that was.”
The 100th career win for Paris and the first time in his career he won a game against Mike Young — the current Virginia Tech and former Wofford College head coach — came just minutes before the clock struck midnight on his 49th birthday.
South Carolina improves to 2-0 in the early season.
Here are three takeaways from the Gamecocks’ narrow win over the Hokies at the Hall of Fame Series in Charlotte.
Thin at forward
The Gamecocks were without Josh Gray (illness) and Collin Murray-Boyles (illness) against the Hokies, two true forwards USC had planned to depend on this season. Rather than having four of the five at his disposal, Paris was left with three — BJ Mack, Stephen Clark and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.
Paris relied on guards Zachary Davis and Myles Stute in the rotation. Davis, Paris said, played exceptionally well at the “push” play, what USC calls the style of offense it played Friday.
“I thought Zach did a really good job defensively,” Paris said. “He’s getting more and more disciplined as a defender.”
The Gamecocks responded to the Hokies’ early shooting woes, going on a 10-0 run and putting Virginia Tech through a six-minute scoring drought that propelled USC to a 10-point lead. Stute said that even while playing physical defense in the paint, the adjustments Paris made heading into the game helped establish the right tactic to combat Virginia Tech’s physical offense.
“Especially while picking up coverages, it was going to be physical,” Stute said. “And that allowed us to get a little bit of separation in the first half.”
Fight through foul trouble
Mack had two personal fouls before halftime. He was called for his third just seconds into the second half. Stute, who hadn’t fouled in the first half, played the last 10 minutes with three personal fouls.
Those two were the top performers for South Carolina Friday night.
Stute led USC scorers with 21 points, Mack following closely behind with 19 — including the game-winner. But both Gamecocks had to play more cognizant: one more foul and they’re sitting on the bench during the game’s most critical moments.
“It’s tough, you know,” Stute said. “You want to play physical, but also not want to get that fourth foul and have to sit down for a second.”
Avoiding the early foul trouble, particularly for Mack, should be a point of emphasis for Paris. The physical playing style Mack boasts is helpful in the paint: He scored 18 of his 19 points there. But piling up fouls too quickly isn’t sustainable, particularly when the Gamecocks are already short true forwards.
The Wofford College transfer still found a way to show out against the program he originally planned on attending. For Friday night, that’s all that mattered.
Five players in double-digits
Of the starting five, four reached double-digits. Stute, Mack, Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper. Then Jacobi Wright joined in, too.
Wright and Cooper quietly reached their 12 points in the home stretch of the game, while Johnson played through his four turnovers to reach 11 points.
“I think it’s just good that we have a lot of guys that feel comfortable going out there and playing basketball within the framework of what we want to do and, and know what their role is,” Paris said. “And they’re just confident.”
Paris’ player-specific plays, drawn up at the right time, gave USC a chance to spread the Hokies defense away from just one player at the most convenient times. There wasn’t a need for a flashy dunk, just a few step-back jumpers or quick ball movement to leave one of those five open for a 3-point attempt.
It worked. South Carolina’s depth shined through, despite the Hokie comeback.
“If I call someone’s number on a specific play, which we did, we call a play specifically for them,” Paris said. “It’s nice to have guys that you can do that for. So then when it comes down to crunch time, you’re not just always keen on one guy.”
Next four USC basketball games
Nov. 13 - home vs. VMI, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 17 - vs. DePaul (Arizona Tip-Off Tournament)
Nov. 19 - vs. Grand Canyon or San Francisco (Arizona Tip-Off Tournament)
Nov. 28 - home vs. Notre Dame (SEC/ACC Challenge), 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 11:45 PM.
