South Carolina loses at Vanderbilt to remain winless in SEC: 3 things we learned
Another game, another frustrating result for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina’s search for its first SEC basketball win continues, as Lamont Paris’ team fell to Vanderbilt 66-63 on the road on Wednesday. It was the Gamecocks’ second-straight conference game that they lost at the buzzer.
“A very tough loss to swallow,” Paris said in a postgame radio interview with 107.5.
An and-one putback by Vanderbilt’s Devin McGlockton with less than a second left won the game after the Commodores had gone nearly five minutes without a field goal.
The Gamecocks had their chance.
Vandy’s AJ Hoggard committed a flagrant foul on Collin Murray-Boyles with 41 seconds left. Murray-Boyles knocked down both free throws and tied the game 63-63, but the Gamecocks committed a shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession.
The rest of the game wasn’t pretty. USC turned the ball over 25 times overall, but led in most other statistical categories. It was back-and-forth throughout, but Vandy started to pull away in the first half and led for over 23 minutes. Vandy led 33-26 at halftime.
“They out competed us,” Paris said. “They just were significantly more active than us. And then we didn’t play well.”
USC battled back but never led by more than four points. The Gamecocks went over four minutes without a score late in the second half before a Morris Ugusuk 3-pointer tied the game with under two minutes left.
Sophomores Ugusuk and Murray-Boyles were most of the offense for the Gamecocks in the loss. Ugusuk led the way with a career-high 20 points and three steals. Murray-Boyles added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Redshirt freshman Arden Conyers scored 10, while senior Jacobi Wright had eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
South Carolina (10-7, 0-4 SEC) wraps up its road swing with a visit to Oklahoma on Saturday. Here are three observations from the loss to Vanderbilt (14-3, 2-2 SEC):
Turnovers tell a story
The Gamecocks committed a season-high 16 turnovers in the first half alone. That led to 14 points off turnovers in the half for a Vanderbilt team that likes to move the ball and get out in transition.
South Carolina committed four turnovers in the span of two minutes, which coincided with a 9-0 run for Vanderbilt toward the end of the first half, giving the Commodores their first lead since the opening minutes.
Many of the turnovers came from sloppy passes and ball-handling by the Gamecocks. But even more than that, they had the ball stripped on the inside, which disrupted their interior-focused offense.
“I’ve never seen so many clean strips in my entire life,” Paris said. “... I’m having a hard time getting over how many times we turned the ball over.”
USC finished with 25 turnovers; it came in averaging just over 11 a game.
Even so, that didn’t spell the end for USC. The Gamecocks controlled the tempo for the most of the first half, and played enough defense to slow Vanderbilt down. They held Vandy to 37% shooting in the first half and also forced seven turnovers.
Plus, Vandy didn’t take complete advantage of the turnovers. The Commodores only outscored USC 22-17 in points off turnovers.
“We had a chance — the basketball gods shined on us to make the game only a seven-point game at halftime,” Paris said. “I’m not even sure if we deserved that, but that’s what we got.”
Morris Ugusuk’s career night
The sophomore has struggled since the start of SEC play. He averaged 5.5 points per game in the first three games, and was 5 of 20 from the field, including 1 of 9 from behind the 3-point line.
He turned it on against Vanderbilt.
Ugusuk provided a much-needed scoring boost to a struggling Gamecocks offense. Coming out of the break, he scored 14 points in the second half. South Carolina needs his scoring with second-leading scorer Jamarii Thomas injured and out for the foreseeable future.
He finished shooting 6 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 4 from deep.
“That’s what he can do for us,” Paris said. “It’s all part of the process of growing and getting better. If there’s any silver lining, at least that is something. He’s grown.”
Glass cleaners
South Carolina out-rebounded Vanderbilt by 12, the third-largest margin of the season. That has been USC’s biggest struggle this year, ranking 11th in the SEC in rebounding margin. USC was out-rebounded in the first two SEC games, before edging Auburn in that area.
However, the Gamecocks weren’t as good with scoring on the inside, going 5 of 12 on layups against Vandy. They were better on the outside than the inside, shooting 43.8% from 3 but only 41.4% from inside the arc.
Part of that is due to senior Nick Pringle being in foul trouble. He only played eight minutes in the first half and fouled out in the second. He finished with just three points.
Next four games
- Saturday: at Oklahoma, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
- Jan. 22: vs Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 25: vs Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 28: at Georgia, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM.
