South Carolina MBB blown out by 47 at home vs. Florida. What we saw

South Carolina was stung a season ago by Florida. USC led most of that game, until a Will Richard layup with five seconds left lifted UF to a 70-69 win. Knowing the Gators went on to become national champions, it’s possible the loss stings less — or much more in hindsight.

But last year was last year, and USC’s matchup against the No. 19 Gators on Wednesday night was an opportunity. An opportunity to avenge USC’s sullied 2024-25 season just a little bit, and an opportunity to grab a top-25 win in front of a sizable student section donning white-out gear.

By the end of USC’s 95-48 loss to Florida, there were hardly any home fans left to see it.

Even the scorekeeper at Colonial Life Arena got caught in the mess — after USC (11-10, 2-6 SEC) hit a 3-pointer in the first half, the scoreboard momentarily showed a made 3-pointer for UF before quickly being corrected.

The 47-point margin of defeat broke the Lamont Paris-era record for largest loss. It was the largest road SEC win for Florida in program history and tied for the largest road win in conference history.

“There was a level of aggression in the game on their behalf that made us relent,” Paris said. “I was disappointed in our effort, in our competitive spirit in a lot of ways. That just really surprised me.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

First half thumping

After a slow start for both teams in the first half, Florida (15-6, 6-2 SEC) found its footing while the Gamecocks stayed cold.

USC shot 1 for 8 from 3-point range, slightly behind UF’s 5-for-11 clip. Florida hit 11 of its final 13 shots in the half, while the Gamecocks closed out 3 for 10 in the same span. Mike Sharavjamts’ four points in the first half, all from the free-throw line, were the most for any USC player.

As the clock ran down in the first half, groups of USC students slowly began to file out. When the halftime buzzer sounded with USC down 48-20, the majority of the home crowd made its way for the exit. The most populated sections of the arena following the mass exit were the away fans section, the pep band and what remained of USC’s students sitting by the court.

“I’m coaching a basketball game, so I really watch and pay attention to the basketball game. So, I don’t know,” Paris said. “Is that what happened? OK, no. I don’t really pay attention to that during the game.”

The Gamecocks finished the first half shooting 7 for 29. USC shot 8 for 29 in the second half (2 for 12 on 3s) and finished the game 15 for 58 (25.9%) from the floor and 3 for 20 (15%) on 3-point attempts. USC came dangerously close to its worst shooting performance in the Paris era (25% vs. Tennessee in 2023).

Outdone physically

With two players standing 6-foot-10 or taller, USC is one of the SEC’s smallest teams. UF, on the other hand, is one of five SEC schools with five players tall enough to count as true bigs. That size difference was on full display Wednesday night.

Florida simply dominated the Gamecocks physically in every way. Rebounds (45-24), second-chance points (13-0) and points in the paint (54-20) were owned by the Gators. In the first half, USC made seven field goals and was blocked seven times.

“Obviously in the interior, they’re not as tall or as physical as we are, and we were able to take advantage of that. I thought it showed up a lot in the rebounding,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “I think to play the best ball in the league, I think you need competent, capable bigs, for sure.”

Paris hadn’t even been playing his pair of seven-footers, Christ Essandoko and Jordan Butler, in the recent stretch of SEC games. He was forced to utilize Essandoko early, who struggled, finishing with three points and zero rebounds in six minutes. Butler logged no stats in four minutes.

Eli Ellis returns

One thing that kept the remaining fans cheering through the night was the return of freshman favorite Eli Ellis.

Ellis missed USC’s last four games with an ankle injury. He last played Jan. 10 in a 75-70 loss to Georgia. Previously, Ellis had missed the Gamecocks’ loss to Clemson Dec. 16 with a separate ankle injury.

He was back to his usual spark plug ways off the bench Wednesday night, finishing with a team-high 13 points in 26 minutes. His best stretch of the game was later in the first half when he hit back-to-back-to-back shots to keep the deficit below 30 points.

“I had a solid transition, even with the outcome. I feel like I’m moving freely again and back in the rotation,” Ellis said. “It sucks sitting out a few games, being hurt, but we had to do what we had to do.”

Even when Ellis was on the bench, USC’s student section chanted “We want Eli!” throughout the night. Ellis is averaging 9.9 points in 23.5 minutes per game this season.

South Carolina men’s basketball upcoming schedule

• Saturday: vs. LSU, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Tuesday: at Texas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Feb. 7: vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Feb. 14: at Alabama, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 11:03 PM.