South Carolina basketball upends SC State. 3 things we learned in the victory
South Carolina (1-1) got its first win of the basketball season when it defeated SC State (1-1) 86-64 at home Friday.
Sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles led the way for the Gamecocks, notching a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while senior Jacobi Wright added a career-high 20 points, three assists and a block. South Carolina senior Jamarii Thomas also had 14 points, two steals and a block. Junior Zach Davis had 10 points and six rebounds for the Gamecocks.
A 9-0 run for the Gamecocks toward the end of the first half put the Gamecocks up 41-23 with a minute left. That’s the elusive extended run in the first half that USC has been looking for to pull away early in games. SC State was unable to get the lead to single digits for the rest of the game.
“I thought we did a good job in the first half. I was happy with where we were at,” head coach Lamont Paris said after the win.
USC is set to host Towson on Tuesday.
Here are three observations from Friday’s game against SC State:
A fresh start
For the first time in three games — including the exhibition — the Gamecocks got off to a quick start from the floor, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. The most glaring change was adding Wright to the starting lineup for Davis.
The change wasn’t because of a gap in skill and ability, Paris said. Rather, it was just finding the best lineups to “do certain things better early on in the game.”
What’s more, Paris seemed intent on making a change whenever things even started to go wrong for USC. He subbed Myles Stute out for Davis quickly after Stute missed a couple of 3-pointers early.
A similar occurrence happened after the aforementioned quick start. The Gamecocks turned it over three times quickly after the timeout, prompting Paris to switch nearly the entire lineup.
Paris later said that this wasn’t intentional, just making substitutions that he felt naturally throughout the course of the game.
Effort plays get it done
It appeared to be a focus to crash the boards.
That has been a trend for Murray-Boyles, but there seemed on Friday to be even more of a concerted effort to do so. Every time the ball went up, it felt like Nick Pringle or Murray-Boyles got their hands on it. Murray-Boyles had three rebounds — including two for tough putbacks — in the first couple of minutes of the game.
“I think the emphasis of this game was to be very aggressive and play with a lot of energy, because I think that’s what everybody saw we lacked last game,” Murray-Boyles said. “I think just picking it up on every single aspect of the game was our biggest thing and rebounding was obviously a part of that.
“We gave up 15 offensive boards (against North Florida), and we didn’t really want the same story to be written about this game. So just coming out here with more aggression and to take it into the rest of the season with the same aggression that we played with.”
The Gamecocks had six offensive rebounds for their first six missed shots to start the game. In the first half, USC had more offensive rebounds (15) than SC State had total rebounds (14).
There also seemed to be a focus on defensive intensity. Paris has lamented the Gamecocks’ inability to get one-on-one stops. Staying in front of defenders had been a problem.
But they seemed to turn a corner against the Bulldogs. SC State didn’t score until nearly five minutes into the game.
Even more important: The Gamecocks’ ability to get a stop in key moments. USC needed to make a statement in this game and win big. Getting stops and going on a run helped it accomplish that.
Cold from deep
Shooting the ball, especially in the first half, has been a struggle for the Gamecocks.. They shot 31% in the opener, and it didn’t get better Friday. They missed their first eight shots from deep.
“My message to guys is: I can’t make them make it,” Paris said. “All I can do is provide the environment that they feel comfortable taking those shots.”
After that, Paris said, they have to get in the gym and work on the shots they need to make. And if they can’t start making them? “You got to pump the brakes on your attempts a little bit until you get the thing figured out,” he said.
Morris Ugusuk and Wright were the only Gamecocks who were able to find their stroke. Ugusuk finally got the lid off of the rim when he made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the first half. It was a welcome sight for Paris, as Ugusuk didn’t put anything in the box score in his limited minutes in the season opener.
Wright was right behind Ugusuk, making two 3-pointers of his own, allowing USC to take its first double-digit lead, with five minutes left in the first half.
Wright and Ugusuk shot a combined 6 of 10 from three. Outside of those two, the team was 2 of 17.
It wasn’t until just under 15 minutes left in the game that another Gamecock made a 3-pointer. Freshman Cam Scott knocked one down from the corner that extended the second-half lead to 56-36.
South Carolina schedule: Next four games
- Nov. 12 vs. Towson, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 16 at Indiana, 3 p.m. (Peacock/streaming only)
- Nov. 21 vs. Mercer, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 25 vs. Xavier – Fort Myers Tip-Off – 8:30 p.m. on FS1
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 9:21 PM.
