Hot-shooting Auburn snaps South Carolina MBB win streak. What went wrong for Gamecocks
There was no love for the Gamecocks inside Neville Arena.
Frustrations flared as nothing went right for South Carolina, despite Meechie Johnson, Collin Murray-Boyles and BJ Mack all scoring over 14 points. The Tigers were on a mission to be heartbreakers on Valentine’s Day, and they did just that Wednesday night against the Gamecocks (21-4, 9-3 SEC).
No. 11 South Carolina’s seven-game win streak ended on the road against No. 13 Auburn in a 101-61 loss. It was the Gamecocks’ first loss in nearly a month, and just the fourth loss this year.
The Tigers’ 40-point win was the program’s largest margin of victory ever over an Associated Press Top 25 team.
Auburn goes big at home
There’s a reason Auburn (20-5, 9-3) is undefeated at home this season: The Jungle is no joke. The Tigers are not only perfect, but dominant in front of their fans. Auburn has won every home game by double digits this season and by an average of 20.5 points, and 18.6 points in SEC play.
South Carolina struggled to get consistent looks the entire night, turning the ball over six times in the first half.
“They were really good, we weren’t that good,” USC coach Lamont Paris said. “And that’s what happens when you have that combination.”
Auburn was shooting 63% from the arc and 64% from the field at halftime, while USC was shooting just half of that. The Tigers had no problem running up the scoreboard with their three 8-0 scoring runs throughout the first half. And the held the Gamecocks to one bench point for the entire game.
Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome led the Tigers to their 13th home win, scoring a combined 44 points and shooting 16-for-26 from the field. Every contested shot, Auburn found a way to knock it down. If there was an open triple available, the Tigers took it.
“Their defense was pretty good, but I’d say it was more offense for them today,” Meechie Johnson said. “I feel like they were just not missing.”
While South Carolina has done well against high-scoring offenses this year, there was no stopping Auburn on Wednesday night.
Nothing sweet happening in Alabama
Of South Carolina’s four losses this season, two of them have been on the road in the state of Alabama. It’s been a month since the Gamecocks dropped their last game, and both Wednesday’s loss against the Tigers and the Jan. 9 loss at Alabama were relatively similar games.
Both were blowout losses, both had some of USC’s worst shooting nights in conference play and both were against the top teams in the SEC.
“We have to flush it out and move on, losing like this,” BJ Mack said. “It just wasn’t our night overall.”
It wasn’t the worst loss of the Paris era at USC. The Gamecocks lost by 40 or more three times a year ago in his debut season, including twice to Tennessee.
The good news: South Carolina won’t travel to the state the rest of the season. The bad news is USC might see either Alabama or Auburn again come the SEC Tournament in March. Neither SEC program in the state has made things easy, and the pair have figured out how to use South Carolina’s slow-paced offense to their benefit.
SEC standings shake up
This one was an important game for both South Carolina and Auburn. There are long-term implications with the loss, including the SEC standings.
Alabama remains first overall in the SEC, since it only has two conference losses. The Crimson Tide is in the midst of its SEC bye week, so Alabama will hold on to the No. 1 seed at least for the rest of this week.
Auburn’s victory puts it tied for second in the conference with South Carolina, but the Tigers now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
For SEC Tournament purposes, that puts USC in the No. 3 seed spot for now. Tennessee would be the No. 4 seed, followed by Florida at No. 5.
This is also USC’s third Quad 1 loss this season, and the Gamecocks are now 3-3 there. While a win inside The Jungle would’ve been monumental for South Carolina’s resume come Selection Sunday, the Gamecocks have built themselves a strong enough slate to still feel really good about their NCAA Tournament chances.
Other notable stats
- Johnson’s 22 points were his first double-digit game since facing Georgia on Feb. 3, and first 20-point game since facing Mississippi State on Jan. 6.
- Murray-Boyles’ 19 points marked his fourth-straight game scoring at least 16 points.
- Auburn’s 101 points were the most South Carolina has allowed in the Paris era. The Gamecocks haven’t allowed triple digits since facing Auburn in Columbia on Jan. 23, 2021.
Next four games
- Saturday vs. LSU, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 24 at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 28 at Texas A&M, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 2 vs. Florida, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published February 14, 2024 at 10:35 PM.
