South Carolina’s rally vs. Southern Miss was ‘perfect,’ Lamont Paris says. Here’s why
Sunday is the day of rest. For South Carolina men’s basketball, Sunday’s overtime win against Southern Mississippi was anything but restful.
The Gamecocks went cold in the second half and found themselves down 11 with just over three minutes left. That’s when Meechie Johnson put up 11 straight points, including three deep 3-pointers, to force overtime and eventually lead USC to an 83-79 victory.
Without the late-game rally, it would’ve meant a Quadrant Four loss on South Carolina’s NCAA Tournament resume — a huge blemish for a team that hopes to find itself on the right side of the bubble come Selection Sunday. USC narrowly kept itself from a brutal non-conference loss similar to last year’s 74-71 season-opening defeat at the hands of North Florida.
Even Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris admitted Sunday’s rollercoaster was draining.
“This is the most exhausted I think I’ve ever been after a game in my whole life,” he said. “Maybe I’m getting old. ... That was an exhausting game, the roller coaster of everything that was happening.”
Exhausting? Yes. Upsetting, frustrating or concerning? Not quite. Paris didn’t seem panicked about his team’s overall play, and had an interesting takeaway for a coach who just escaped another crushing non-conference loss early in the season.
“This is going to sound crazy. I said it in an N.C. State exhibition game, and I think it sounded like it was a great thing to say, because we lost and what else are you going to say?” Paris said. “Well, we won this one. The way that the game turned out was perfect. It’s exactly what you would want to draw up.”
Paris did express a similar sentiment after USC fell 88-86 in an exhibition Oct. 26 against the Wolfpack on a last-second game winner. His point then was the Gamecocks played well regardless of the result, but the team might have a better response in the following film session because the game ended in a loss.
The reason Paris felt the Southern Miss result was perfect, he said, was because of what the Gamecocks were able to put on film in the first place.
“You get late-game free throws by Eli. You get Meechie in a full-court press situation, and we don’t make it happen, we turn it over. You get a barrage that has to happen from one player in particular in what Meechie did,” Paris said. “We threw the 1-3-1 (zone defense) out there. Because you’re always going to feel like, ‘Well, when’s a good time to do it? Up 20, then can we throw the 1-3-1?’ Well, we had to. We had to throw it out there. It was good for us.”
USC scheduled a lighter non-conference slate featuring only four top-100 NET teams. Ideally for the Gamecocks, there won’t be many games requiring the late-game scenarios that played out on Sunday until they reach SEC play. So while on one hand, having to rally to beat No. 254-ranked Southern Miss might be troubling, gaining clutch-situation experience early in the season and coming out on top could be beneficial.
“You could never script this in a way that your team could learn more for from it,” Paris said. “So I thought it was perfect for every single person, other than the coach.”
The Gamecocks will play two more teams outside the top-150 NET rankings in Presbyterian and Radford before heading to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for real tests against Butler (No. 68) and Northwestern (No. 51) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
South Carolina men’s basketball upcoming games
- Wednesday: vs. Presbyterian, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 18: vs. Radford, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 21: vs. Butler (at Greenbrier Tip-Off in WVa.), 2 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
- Nov. 23: vs. Northwestern (at Greenbrier Tip-Off in WVa.), 5 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM.
