Gamecocks sink 12 three-pointers but fall in last-second exhibition loss to NC State

If this were a regular-season game that counted toward the standings, maybe Lamont Paris would’ve felt differently. But even after a close loss, there was no disappointment from him. None at all.

South Carolina suffered an 88-86 loss to NC State in Greensboro on Sunday. Kobe Knox gave it the lead when he made an and-one layup with 11.9 seconds to go. But NC State got the last laugh when Paul McNeil drained a go-ahead three-pointer to win in the final second of the night.

The Gamecocks committed 15 turnovers and let a double-digit point lead slip away in the second half. But Paris walked away from the game feeling good about how his team performed. They were, after all, picked to finish last in the SEC for the second time in three seasons.

“I think (the exhibition) did exactly what it was supposed to do,” Paris said. “I think it provided us moments that we wanted to see, who’s going to do what in those moments. … We did everything we were supposed to do, given what happened. Couple big stops, couple buckets, a steal, and an and-one to win the game, right? That’s real. That happened. I know those guys did those things. So I don’t feel any better or worse in an exhibition game that that shot didn’t or that shot did go in.”

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For the most part, things went as well as they could have for South Carolina. It shot extremely well coming out of the gates, ending the first half at a 54.8 percent clip with six made three-pointers.

Paris expects the Gamecocks to shoot a lot of three-pointers this season; he just hopes most of them will go in. So far, so good in that regard, as they went 12-for-29 from behind the arc (41.4 percent) and 31-for-56 from the field (55.4 percent).

The fourth-year coach admitted he’d feel comfortable with nearly every player on the team shooting from the outside — that is, except for Hayden Assemian, at least for now. But if shots are there, he wants the players to be able to take them, regardless of who’s shooting the ball.

“I thought we did a good job. I mean, we have a team with a lot of guys that can that can make shots,” Paris said. “I want to take a good shot. Sometimes it’s an attack. Sometimes it’s an attack to a kick out, whatever it ends up being. Sometimes post-up. But I’m not going to discourage threes.”

South Carolina also got some strong performances, most notably from Eli Ellis, who got it going after NC State reclaimed the lead the first time around in the second half.

The freshman guard made his first four three-point tries after halftime as he finished with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting with five threes.

“Oh, it was huge,” Ellis said of his first college game. “I’ve always been a pretty confident person, but coming into this level of basketball against a really good team with a lot of people in the stands, it was good for me just to be able to have that first good game and hopefully keep this thing rolling.”

Meechie Johnson also had a nice outing in his first game back with South Carolina. The two-time transfer, who played at USC from 2022-24, scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.

Even with this being his first time wearing a Gamecock uniform in more than a year, Johnson felt no pressure when he took to the court.

“I came back for a reason. I came back to play with these guys, play for Coach Paris, and play for Gamecock nation,” Johnson said. “Every time I put that jersey on, I give them my all. I give 110 percent. So it wasn’t even about the points for real. It was just going out there and feeling like five again.”

Up next: South Carolina will open the 2025-26 regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 4, when it hosts North Carolina A&T at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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