South Carolina MBB battles past East Carolina, earns first true road win of season
One could just copy and paste the formula in the South Carolina men’s basketball team’s loss to Clemson on Wednesday and have a general idea of how the Gamecocks handled East Carolina three days later.
Just change the outcome in favor of USC.
South Carolina’s late buckets in a back-and-forth second half put the Gamecocks back in the win column with a 68-62 victory at East Carolina.
It was South Carolina’s first true road win this season. The Gamecocks (8-1) return to Columbia for a five-game homestand that will close out the nonconference schedule and open SEC play.
Clutch baskets
Head coach Lamont Paris made it very clear after the Clemson loss: Find players who can score big-time baskets in big-time moments.
BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson stepped up Saturday.
“I’ve thought we had a resilient group,” Paris said. “I guess this affirms that feeling, and just that we don’t get too flustered and we don’t get caught up in our emotions.”
The duo both scored game-leading or game-tying baskets in the final minutes against East Carolina. Despite being in foul trouble late in the game, both players found open lanes and took shots.
“Early in the first (half), I was in some foul trouble, which kind of had me in and out of the game,” Johnson said. “Then in the second half, we needed to score to win this game, so I just really had to pull it through and get myself together for this team.”
The Gamecocks ended the game with a 6-0 scoring run and made four of their last five field goals.
Second half switch-up
Against Clemson on Wednesday — and again against the Pirates — South Carolina has allowed its opponent to go on an early scoring run in the second half. Both games included 7-0 runs and missed shooting opportunities.
Those early runs tied the game and put the Gamecocks at a disadvantage.
“Coming off that loss, nobody wants that same feeling again,” guard Ta’Lon Cooper said. “Coach (Paris) was telling us to be aggressive on defense to get stops.”
South Carolina’s fast first halves have led to halftime leads, this time 35-28 against ECU. Sloppy possessions in the second half plagued the Gamecocks. They were passing the ball too much, missing open 3-pointers and letting ECU gain momentum. It was eerily similar to Wednesday’s loss to the Tigers. USC finished with nine turnovers, and ECU had eight.
There were 10 lead changes and nine ties in Saturday’s second half. USC had a four-minute scoring drought. In the last six minutes, USC and ECU couldn’t score consecutive baskets.
Stute back on track, Johnson storms back
After scoring four points on Wednesday night, USC’s Myles Stute was due for another explosive performance. The last time the guard scored less than five points, he put up 11 during the next game. Against ECU, that same pattern emerged.
Stute was the leading South Carolina scorer for more than three quarters of the game before Johnson roared back to 13 points with four minutes to play. Both finished with 15 points.
The pair paved the way for the Gamecocks, and were two of three scoring double-digits and going 10-for-17 Saturday afternoon. Mack continued his streak of scoring 10 or more points as the third Gamecock in double digits with 13. ECU had four players in double digits.
Other notable stats
- Mack’s 13 points continued his scoring streak to four straight games in double digits. He’s scored at least 10 points in all but one game this season.
- Ta’Lon Cooper played a season-high 35 minutes against the Pirates.
- Zach Davis’ nine-point effort against ECU was his best offensive performance since scoring 10 points against DePaul on Nov. 17.
- Morris Ugusuk left the game early after falling in the second half. Paris said the guard rolled his ankle and should be fine.
USC’s next four games
- Dec. 16 vs. Charleston Southern, 6 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Dec. 19 vs. Winthrop, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Dec. 22 vs. Elon, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Dec. 30 vs. Florida A&M, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published December 9, 2023 at 2:20 PM.
