Lamont Paris delivers message on rebounding from back-to-back losses

South Carolina was at one point this season the hottest team in college basketball but has cooled off considerably this past week. After a pair of top 10 wins against Kentucky and Tennessee last month, the Gamecocks climbed all the way up to No. 11 in the AP poll ahead of a top 25 matchup against Auburn on the road Wednesday.

That’s where the seven-game winning streak would come to an end as South Carolina suffered an embarrassing 101-61 loss. It had a chance to bounce back at home against LSU this weekend, but squandered a 16-point lead to lose 64-63. It marked the first time this year the Gamecocks lost back-to-back games.

With just five games remaining this regular season, Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris stressed the importance of learning from the losses and finishing the season strong.

“You’ve gotta learn fast,” Paris said. “There’s lessons to be taught from winning and from losing. The only real travesty about this game will be if you don’t learn some things from it. So there’ll be some learning, but I think it’s more about doing also. I think we need to do a better job in terms of execution.”

South Carolina seemingly had the game against LSU in control on Saturday as it held a 41-25 with 16:58 remaining. The Gamecocks led by double digits as late as 8:15 remaining until the Tigers charged back to make it a one-possession game with just under three minutes to go.

LSU didn’t take the lead until there were five seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from Jordan Wright, who scored its final seven points. The Gamecocks had multiple opportunities to put the game away but failed to do so, and it cost them in the end.

Still, this is a team with a chance to do something special this season. Sitting at 21-5 (9-4 SEC), the Gamecocks are in prime position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the past six seasons. They also sit tied for third place in the SEC, just 1.5 games back from first-place Alabama.

It’s been a rough past week, but it would be surprising if Paris weren’t able to get South Carolina back on track to close out the college basketball regular season. His first chance will come when the Gamecocks hit the road to face Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Oxford.