USC basketball shows it can win on the road in SEC. It’s a sign of improvement
This past week, USC played two road games after spending most of their nonconference schedule inside Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks need to continue finding their way on the road , even after picking up their first SEC win away from home.
South Carolina men’s basketball (14-2, 2-1 SEC) had been on three road trips prior to conference play. Two true road games, in Clemson and East Carolina, and a tournament trip to Arizona. USC won the tournament, beat ECU but lost to the Tigers, a marked improvement from a year ago.
“It’s a fun time of year in conference play,” Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris said Saturday after defeating Missouri. “Everything is on the line and everybody’s in the hunt.”
And every SEC team has to find a way to win on the road. Let’s be honest, since when has a road conference game ever been easy?
“It’s hard,” Paris said. “It’s super hard.”
For USC’s two games last week in conference play, Paris led his team to a 1-1 record. He picked up an overtime, come-from-behind win over Missouri on Saturday, after a deflating loss at Alabama on Tuesday.
There were some positives; holding a high-scoring, 90-point per game average Crimson Tide team to 74 points. And Jacobi Wright scored 11 points against Missouri, including a game-winning jumper that gave him his first double-digit game since Dec. 22.
Of course, winning in overtime is a good thing.
“We covet any win, certainly,” Paris said. “But the road wins are something altogether.”
There were some negatives, too. USC was a combined 12-for-49 from 3-point range this week — its lowest 3-point shooting percentage this season. The Gamecocks had 33 turnovers, 17 against Alabama and another 16 against Missouri. Meechie Johnson struggled against the Tigers, scoring 5 points on six attempts and not playing during the overtime period.
It’s also still January. Paris has time to help fix those negatives.
It helps knowing the 3-point shooting slump can be taken care of in one game, even if it’s just one player stepping up. USC didn’t have a player shooting the long ball better than 20% last week, but Johnson, Myles Stute and Ta’Lon Cooper are averaging at least 35% from 3-point range otherwise.
Paris has previously described shooting woes like a sickness, praying it won’t spread to the entire team.
“I don’t know why it was so contagious,” Paris said at Alabama on Tuesday, “whether it was what’s riding on this game. I tell the guys that’s the beauty of this conference, is that every game counts.”
So now South Carolina returns to Columbia with three of its next four games inside Colonial Life Arena. Fans will be cheering them on, not trying to distract them.
They’ll need to build on their success against Missouri, before heading out on the road again.
“It’s hard to lock in, it’s hard to tune in,” Paris said about life on the road. “It’s hard to focus. It’s hard to recover.”
Next four games
- Tuesday vs. Georgia, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
- Jan. 20 at Arkansas, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 23 vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 27 vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 14, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
