South Carolina MBB heads into holidays with home win over SC State. What we learned

Coming into the final pre-Christmas contest on the schedule, saying South Carolina had been in a shooting slump would be putting it mildly. That wasn’t a problem in a rare Monday afternoon outing at Colonial Life Arena.

USC shot 59% in outdistancing the S.C. State Bulldogs 95-70.

Myles Stute scored a season-best 15 points and knocked down three 3-pointers to lead the solid effort. Mike Sharavjamts matched that production with 15 points as the Gamecocks made six 3-pointers after making just 7 of 49 in the last two games combined against Clemson and The Citadel.

Five Gamecocks ended up in double figures. Freshman Grant Polk scored a career-high 13 points with Elijah Strong adding 13 points and Kobe Knox chipping in with 11.

“It was a good effort by our guys,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “They did a really good job of being locked in. ... We handled our business. Now the guys get to wrap some gifts for a few days.”

The fact the Gamecocks (8-4) shot it so well is a testament to the work they’ve put in since the loss to Clemson last Tuesday. Getting Stute going is a necessity once SEC play begins. Meechie Johnson is struggling with his shot right now (0 for 5 against S.C. State), and Stute and Johnson are the most experienced SEC players on the roster.

Strong said it was nice to see Stute have a breakout game.

“He’s one heck of a basketball player and puts in work,” Strong said. “He’s one of the guys you see in the gym almost every time you walk into the gym. He’s going to be a big piece of this basketball team and he’s going to continue to build that confidence.”

Jayden Johnson led all scorers with 23 points for the Bulldogs (1-13).

Quad 1 wins

South Carolina is going to end the non-SEC portion of the schedule without a Quad 1 win. They went 0-4 in those opportunities and have four wins against teams ranked 300 or higher in the KenPom rankings.

S.C. State came into the game on Monday at No. 361 out of 365 teams. The Gamecocks close out 2025 against Albany on Dec. 30 — and they’re No. 305 in the rankings. A Nov. 9 win over Southern Miss, which checks in at No. 191, is the highest of the season.

But Lamont Paris can look at the four losses by a combined 19 points as a reason for optimism. A reason not to be optimistic: South Carolina is No. 91 in the KenPom rankings, which is last among the 16 teams in the SEC.

Ellis returns, Kapic sits

The Gamecocks had the services of freshman guard Eli Ellis after he missed the Clemson game due to an ankle injury. He looked fluid and played without any restrictions. He finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes.

“He’s another guy that when he plays really well, it’s obvious to see what really well looks like. He’s doing all kinds of things,” Paris said. “His presence and having another ball-handler out there that can make decisions off the ball screens (are key). To see he was able to just play and not be worried about the ankle was nice.”

Nordin Kapic, on the other hand, did not suit up for South Carolina. It was announced before the game that he was suffering from a knee injury and his status is day-to-day.

It was the second game this season the 6-foot-8 senior transfer has missed a game. He was out against The Citadel on December 13. He only played 10 minutes against Clemson in the last contest.

Free Throw Advantage

South Carolina will likely have a mismatch in the interior in SEC play, but they didn’t against the Bulldogs. The Gamecocks were able to get into the paint and draw fouls against S.C. State. South Carolina made 31 of 36 from the foul line, outscoring the Bulldogs by 22 points from the free-throw line in the process.

“We made that a point of emphasis,” Paris said. “(State) has had a lot of free throws shot against them. I thought if we could be aggressive, we could get to the line consistently.”

South Carolina schedule: Next four games

• Dec. 30: vs. Albany, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Jan. 3: vs. No. 11 Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
• Jan. 6: at LSU, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
• Jan. 10: vs. No. 23 Georgia, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)

This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM.