GG Jackson paces South Carolina to skid-breaking win
The shotclock wound down late in the second half of South Carolina’s Black Friday game. GG Jackson dribbled at the top of the key, spun around and drilled a turnaround jumper.
It was just one of a few impressive shots the Gamecocks’ freshman hit. And all of themhelped his team to a 68-53 win over USC Upstate to snap a three-game losing streak.
“I knew (USC Upstate) would be ready and we’d have to play well to win. I thought did and I was really happy with a lot of things and the overall feel of how the game progressed and what we did,” Lamont Paris said. “Just a better feel. We didn’t make some plays, didn’t make some shots but had a better feel to me of this might be what it looks like on a more consistent basis.”
How it happened
Upstate came into the game one of the worst defensive teams in the country per KenPom but the Gamecocks struggled to score against them in the first half. South Carolina went into the locker room down three at half, putting up just 28 points on 35.7 percent shooting and going 2-for-10 from three.
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Despite trailing at halftime, South Carolina surged forward in the second half. After an opening Upstate bucket, the Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run, sparked by a go-ahead three from Jackson and a follow-up one from freshman Zach Davis.
Jackson ultimately finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Davis, making his first-career start in place of an injured Chico Carter Jr. had seven points.
“I feel like when we came out in warmups. Any time in warmups where I can’t hit a shot at all or it feels like my legs are dead, I usually always have a pretty good game or hit a lot of tough shots,” Jackson said. “I feel like from this morning, I woke up and had my mind right.”
The Gamecocks used another 6-0 run halfway through the second half, spurred by a handful of Upstate turnovers, to pad the lead and keep the Spartans at arm’s length.
Upstate struggled to score consistently after halftime, putting up just 22 points and shooting 40.7 percent from the field, 0-for-6 from three.
“I think we came together, saw what they were doing and adjusted to it,” Jacobi Wright said. “We tried to pull three stops in a row together, multiple times. It worked for us.”
Wright (10 points) and Hayden Brown (15) each finished in double-figures as well. Brown closed the game well, getting two big buckets –with one a key three-point play–and finishing with seven second-half points.
Wright–in his second game logging at least 38 minutes, finished with 10 points on 5-for-12 shooting. He had two assists and didn’t turn the ball over.
“It’s a little adjustment and a little tougher on my body, but I have to do what has to be done,” he said. “Until my guys get back, I have to do whatever it takes to win and be out there however many minutes.”
South Carolina finished with its best offensive performance in a while. The offense averaging just under 1.2 points per possession and shooting 47.5 percent from the field.
“We tweaked a couple of things offensively just cause of the number of guys who were going to be available. There are things I want to do that, to be honest, we’re not ready to do offensively from a skill standpoint. I’m not berating the guys. That just is what it is,” Paris said. “We tweaked a couple of things that would allow us to play where there are a few fewer decisions for a couple of guys. That will allow them to be an effective weapon for us on the offensive end…Those types of numbers are what I’m more accustomed to and looking for us to get. I thought I had more of an inside attack.”
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Two observations
Man, does South Carolina need to get healthy–The Gamecocks were already down arguably their top guard coming into the year in Ebrima Dibba, but they were without two of their other top four guards Friday. Neither Chico Carter Jr. nor Meechie Johnson played and the Gamecocks couldn’t do much without two of their better players. South Carolina needs one, if not both, of those guys healthy.
Zach Davis continues to show promise–In his first real start, Davis finished with seven points on 3-for-8 shooting but had one of the bigger buckets of the second half. He brought in two offensive rebounds on one possession and ultimately ended up with a putback layup. It give South Carolina at the time its biggest lead of the day. He’s still very raw as a freshman but has some potential to see his role increase this year.
“In the locker room, one of the notes the coaches wrote down for us was, ‘Keep it simple.’ And they had Zach’s name on there in all caps with exclamation marks,” Jackson said of Davis. “In practice sometimes coach Paris will say he’s trying to make chicken salad but it looks like chicken eh. Y’all know what I’m trying to say. I feel like he had his head level down,” “He had his mind right and he came up big for us.”
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Key stat
13 points off turnovers–South Carolina did well getting the ball off Upstate Friday. The Gamecocks forced 13 and got 13 off them, some in the open court. Meanwhile, South Carolina only turned the ball over eight times which led to four Upstate points.
Turning point
South Carolina went on a 12-2 run to start the second half, which took the Gamecocks from a three-point halftime deficit to a lead. The Gamecocks never trailed again in the second half. It came at the right time with South Carolina hitting a few big threes in that stretch.
Up next
South Carolina hits the road next for a two-game road trip in Washington D.C. The Gamecocks are at George Washington Wednesday, Nov. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network. South Carolina follows that up with a noon tip Saturday, Dec. 3 at Georgetown.
