Another one slips away: South Carolina can’t complete upset of No. 5 Florida
South Carolina needed something positive.
Not that the Gamecocks were left for dead, but things couldn’t have gotten much worse. They hadn’t won an SEC game, let a monumental upset against Auburn slip through their fingers and were coming off a loss to Oklahoma that included surrendering 15-straight points late in the game.
It seemed like Wednesday was the night jubilation would break thorough. Instead, Florida’s Will Richard hit a layup with five seconds left to give the No. 5 Gators a 70-69 win over South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC) at Colonial Life Arena.
It’s the first time the Gamecocks have started conference play 0-6 since 2013-14.
“You played well enough to win the game and you just didn’t allow yourself to bring the ship all the way in,” said USC coach Lamont Paris. “That was a little disappointing — understatement of the new 2025 year right there.”
Here are three observations from the game:
This looked like last year’s team ... until it didn’t
Yes, comparison is the thief of joy, but that doesn’t mean we should stop comparing. Yes, this South Carolina basketball season has been extra frustrating coming on the heels of last season’s NCAA Tournament squad that not just won 26 games, but was so fun to watch.
This South Carolina team has yet to get near that bar. Wednesday, though, was close.
It was unrelenting pressure on defense. It was attacking offensive rebounds like a baby who was about to fall into the pool. It was watching South Carolina stay disciplined on defense, switching so effortlessly that the whole team looked as though they were all in this synchronous harmony.
Also a key of last year’s team: winning close games.
That has been the kryptonite for Lamont Paris’ 2024-25 team. Aside from coming out ahead of the Clemson showdown last month, the Gamecocks have now lost tight games to Auburn, Vanderbilt and Florida. They lack that unnatural confidence that made last year’s tournament team easy to get behind.
It’s not that they seem to scared in clutch moments, but they just don’t execute.
South Carolina was up 14 at one point. It led by five with 76 seconds left. It was up one with 17 seconds remaining. It didn’t matter. The Gamecocks — as has been the case all season — couldn’t make the one extra play to get over the hump. Couldn’t hit the one extra free throw. Couldn’t make the one last stop.
Too many turnovers
Early in the second half, soon after the Gamecocks took a double-digit lead, Florida — a team that does not often press — began hounding South Carolina right as it inbounded the ball. The full-court press is not some taboo thing. Florida tried a tactic desperate teams try and, well, South Carolina folded.
“Normally, if you handle that stuff, whatever the lead was when they put it on — 11, 13 goes to 19,” Paris said. “That’s what I’m used to. You maybe get us once on it. We weren’t expecting it. We see it, make some strong passes, good moves and we take advantage of it.”
Instead, South Carolina turned the ball over a dozen times in the second half (15 times total) and let Florida claw back in the game.
At one point, South Carolina led by 13. Florida started pressing. A minute later, the Gamecocks’ lead was down to seven. In the final 3:14, South Carolina turned the ball over three times and the Gators capitalized with five points. That’s the difference in the game right there.
Heck, that’s been the difference in the season. In SEC play, the Gamecocks have turned the ball over an average of 15 times a game — the second-worst among all conference teams. Being without point guard Jamarii Thomas doesn’t help, but that’s not enough of an excuse for a college basketball team to struggle so mightily against a press.
“We have to handle it better,” Paris said. “There’s not many ways to say it.”
Collin Murray-Boyles needed Zachary Davis
This year, South Carolina’s easy buttons offensively have felt like just a singular button: Murray-Boyles. He is the cog that keeps South Carolina in these games, the guy who should almost be required to touch the ball every single possession.
He hit his first five shots Wednesday, opening the game with a 3-pointer then sinking other impressive buckets. Hook shots over a 6-foot-10 center. A floater while falling backward. A left-handed bank shot from the right side. He was playing his own game of H-O-R-S-E.
After scoring 11 points in just 22 minutes of action against Oklahoma, he had 11 points just in the first half against Florida before finishing with 14. It wasn’t that Flroida employed some brand-new defense on Murray-Boyles in the second half, it was just that he stopped shooting.
“I’m a pass-first guy by nature,” he said. “I was just trusting my shooters to shoot. They made some. They missed some.”
“Late in the game, I would have liked to have seen him more aggressive to command the ball,” Paris said of Murray-Boyles.
A beneficiary of Murray-Boyles dishing the ball out, though, was Zachary Davis.
The junior guard, who came into the game averaging just under nine points a game, turned into the best player in the building. He scored four points in the first half before exploding for 18 in the second half.
He was South Carolina’s go-to. Davis hit back-to-back triples in the second half to give the Gamecocks a three-possession lead. He was knocking down pull-up jumpers. And, boy was he moving without the ball — best seen when he snuck back door for a dunk that created a fan frenzy.
But when South Carolina needed a bucket late in the game, who got the ball? Davis. First, with just over a minute left, he took the ball on the right wing, stepped back and banked in a triple. Later, after Florida had tied it, Davis again cut back door, got fouled and made the go-ahead free throw before Florida answered.
Gamecocks schedule: Next four games
- Saturday vs. Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 28 at Georgia, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 1 vs. Texas A&M, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 8 at Kentucky, noon (ESPN/ESPN2)
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 9:03 PM.
