South Carolina MBB can’t hang with No. 5 Alabama. Three observations from the loss
The South Carolina men’s basketball team returned to Columbia for its SEC home opener, eager shake off the sting of an opening conference loss at Mississippi State.
And in many ways the Gamecocks did. They showed plenty of spark against No. 5 Alabama — just not enough to crack the win column as South Carolina lost 88-68 at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday night.
“We played a lot of energy early, and we were good,” USC head coach Lamont Paris said.
USC came out on fire, playing with noticeably more energy and efficiency than its last outing. But Alabama quickly doused that flame with a blistering 25-7 run that put the Crimson Tide firmly in control.
With another 8-0 run toward the end of the half, the Tide rolled to a commanding 45-28 advantage at the break. Much of that was fueled by the Tide’s Mark Sears, who scored 16 points in the first half.
“It’s a game of runs. They made runs, a couple here and there,” Paris said. “And then we couldn’t battle back with a run and, ultimately just couldn’t get enough stops. They made a couple hard shots, but they also had way too many good looks and they were aggressive.“
It was Aden Holloway leading the way after the break for Alabama (13-2, 2-0 SEC) as he scored nine points in the first six minutes of the second half. At one point in the period, the Tide made 7 of 9 shots, including five straight.
The second half played out more evenly, with Alabama edging USC 43-40 after halftime. However, the Crimson Tide’s commanding first-half performance left them plenty of breathing room to secure the win.
USC held its own for the first five minutes, leading or tying Alabama during that stretch. After that, it was all Tide, rolling in and washing away any early momentum the Gamecocks had mustered.
USC’s starting guards produced most of the offense for the Gamecocks on Wednesday. Jacobi Wright had 20, Jamarii Thomas had 15 and Zach Davis had 10.
Nick Pringle (13) and Collin Murray-Boyles (6) had most of the remaining offense, as the Gamecock bench had four points and did not score until there was 1:21 left.
The matchup caught the attention of scouts. According to the 107.5 radio broadcast, 37 representatives from 22 NBA teams were in attendance, including Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens and Utah Jazz executive Danny Ainge.
They were likely there to scout potential NBA talent, such as Murray-Boyles, who is projected as a first-round draft pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
South Carolina (10-5, 0-2 SEC) hosts No. 2 Auburn on Saturday. Here are three observations from the loss to Alabama:
Murray-Boyles muzzled again
SEC play has been a rough ride so far for Murray-Boyles.
The sophomore standout entered conference action averaging 16.6 points per game, but he’s been held to just 11 total points and eight turnovers across two SEC matchups. Both Alabama and Mississippi State made sure Murray-Boyles wasn’t the engine of USC’s offense, forcing the Gamecocks into a choppy, disjointed rhythm.
“Some of it is doubling, some of it’s though, I think he’s been sped up a little bit,” Paris said. “You gotta make decisions in traffic and sometimes in a short amount of time, and he didn’t do a great job.”
USC’s struggles weren’t limited to its star player. Pringle got off to a flashy start with an alley-oop dunk on the team’s first possession but then went silent for most of the half. He didn’t attempt another shot until the 7:22-minute mark of the first half.
He logged just four points and three rebounds by the break. He came out of the half with a similar attitude, scoring the first points again but only adding nine more in the period.
A better start
It wasn’t all doom and gloom. The Gamecocks showed some fight early, bottling up Alabama’s offense on their first three possessions and racing to a 5-0 lead. But Alabama didn’t stay quiet for long. The Crimson Tide hit nine of their next 11 shots, flipping the script.
Adding to South Carolina’s woes were turnovers. The Gamecocks fueled the Tide’s run with six turnovers in eight minutes, as they relinquished the lead. USC committed 15 of them overall, leading to 19 Alabama points.
“It’s decisions and execution of those decisions,” Paris said. “... We have to be better basketball players than that. You have longer and more athletic guys that are that are getting here. Maybe they’re sped up a little bit more, but you got to learn to slow down.
“We have to be able to execute those things. They’re pretty normal things, that if you’re a player at this level, the expectation should be that you’re able to do those things without turning the ball over.”
The Tide led the game for more than 35 minutes. USC never led by more than five points.
Gotta hit the boards
Rebounds were killer for South Carolina on Wednesday. Out of Alabama’s 12 missed shots in the first half, the Tide snagged six offensive boards. Those second chances turned into seven points — a dagger for a team already struggling to keep pace.
When Alabama is hitting 60% of its shots, it proved costly to allow them clean up their misses too. It’s hard to string together stops like that.
Next four games
- Saturday: vs No. 2 Auburn, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 15: at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 18: at No. 17 Oklahoma, 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
- Jan. 22: vs No. 8 Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 9:04 PM.
