The 3-2-1: Three positives, two negatives, and one lingering question from South Carolina's overtime win over Southern Miss

In the 3-2-1, we identify three positives, two negatives, and one lingering question following South Carolina basketball’s latest time out on the court. Let’s dive into the Gamecocks’ overtime victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

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Three Positives

1. Clutch Meechie
   
   South Carolina found itself down by double-digits relatively late in the second half after a woeful stretch of basketball. After the Gamecocks whittled the Southern Miss lead down a little bit, they turned to their senior leader.
   
   Meechie Johnson scored 16 points in the final five minutes of regulation, including two impossibly deep 3-pointers. His heroic effort sent the game to overtime, where he scored three more points in the victory.
   
   For the game, Johnson logged a career-high 33 points on 9-for-19 shooting and 7-for-14 efficiency from outside. The Gamecocks needed all of it on Sunday.
   
2. Early offense
   
   As much as the end of the game will dominate the narratives, South Carolina needed a fast start against Southern Miss. The Gamecocks got out to a big lead early, and without it, they don’t win the game.
   
   Carolina led by as many as 16 points in the first half before Southern Miss began chipping into the lead. Then, in the second half, the Golden Eagles flipped the game on its head and led by 11 before the strong finish for the garnet and black.
   
   Without the strong start–which included a perfect 3-for-3 start from beyond the arc–South Carolina is 1-1 instead of 2-0 on the young season.
   
3. Freshmen played like veterans
   
   Johnson will be hailed as the hero, and rightfully so. However, true freshmen Eli Ellis and Hayden Assemian were instrumental to the Gamecocks’ win.
   
   Ellis was second on the team with 20 points, and he shot 3-for-6 from outside. He also went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and had two clutch makes to seal the game after what seemed to be a designed inbound play to get him the basketball.
   
   Assemian didn’t score. He didn’t even attempt a shot. However, he was extremely impactful with his effort, rebounding, and defense. He also opened some things up offensively with his hard screens and dives to the basket. Lamont Paris gushed about him during the postgame press conference.

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Two Negatives

1. The offensive drought
   
   From the 10:17 mark of the first half until the 9:50 mark in the second, South Carolina scored just 15 points in over 20 minutes of gameplay.
   
   A switch to zone for Southern Miss flummoxed the Gamecock offense, especially in times when Meechie Johnson was off the floor with first-half foul trouble.
   
   USC settled for a lot of deep and/or contested 3-pointers during the rough patch, and when they got the ball inside the arc, they threw up some wild shots against good defense.
   
   Carolina survived on Sunday, but that type of offensive play will bury a team most nights.
   
2. Defense
   
   South Carolina’s defense wasn’t great against Southern Miss. The box score wasn’t horrendously ugly, as things tightened up some late. However, Isaac Taveras and Tylik Weeks terrorized the Gamecocks to the tune of 45 points on 17-for-27 shooting and 14 free throw attempts.
   
   The Carolina bigs (and stretch-four Myles Stute) didn’t offer much resistance at times, and the perimeter defense inexplicably just left the man with the ball on multiple occasions. After the game, Lamont Paris used the made-up term “cornfused” to describe one particular defensive lapse.
   
   Transition defense was bad at times, too. Things were a little better when the Gamecocks mixed in some 1-3-1 zone, but the overall effort wasn’t good enough.
   
   Defense will continue to be a question for this team until it isn’t.

One Lingering Question and What’s Next

Can South Carolina do anything on offense when the deep ball isn’t falling?

The Gamecocks made 16 3-pointers against Southern Miss. That, combined with their free throw attempts (many of them coming late), accounted for 65 points of their 83 points. That is too big a share of the offense.

At the final buzzer, USC had finished 5-for-13 on layups and had scored 14 points total in the paint. Frankly, that nearly cost South Carolina the game against a below-average opponent.

The Gamecocks’ effort and execution inside the arc, especially near the basket, must get better moving forward.

What’s Next?

South Carolina basketball will take the floor again on Wednesday, November 12th. The Gamecocks will host the Presbyterian Blue Hose at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will not be on traditional television, but the SEC Network+ will make the action available via streaming.

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