South Carolina basketball bounces back with blowout victory over Stetson

Following an overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, South Carolina basketball returned to the win column by defeating Stetson at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday. Meechie Johnson led the way with 17 points, and an early flurry of threes set the tone as the Gamecocks raced away with a 82-51 victory.

Despite a short 5-0 deficit in the first minutes of the game, South Carolina responded with a 18-4 run over a five-minute span. 12 of those points came from players off the bench. Elijah Strong hit a couple of threes and both Eli Ellis and Grant Polk adding one as well in that span.

From that point on, the Gamecocks kept a single-digit lead until a bucket inside from Elijah Strong following the last media timeout of the first half pushed the margin to 10. Despite six turnovers in the first half from South Carolina, strong perimeter defense was key to maintaining a comfortable lead. The Hatters made their first attempt from deep, but missed their next 15 threes.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks were able to connect consistently on their three-point attempts. Five different players hit a three in the first half as Lamont Paris’s group shot 6-13 (46.2%) from deep in the first half.

“You have to believe in your ability to make shots. Don’t shoot it because I told you to shoot the shot, or you feel like you are supposed to shoot the shot,” Paris said after the game. “Shoot the shot because you’re probably gonna make the shot. Shoot the shot and believe you’re gonna make the shot because you’ve made the shot so many times.”

The Gamecocks bench continued to produce offensively as the first half came to an end. South Carolina recorded more than half of their first-half points from bench options as they ran out to a 43-24 lead by the end of the first 20 minutes in Columbia. An 18-3 run over the final 4:52 of the first half punctuated a strong defensive performance from the Gamecocks in the first half.

“Anytime you hold a college basketball team to those low numbers in terms of field goal percentages and only 51 points, you’re going to give yourself a great chance to have success,” Paris said.

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Following two quick baskets from the Hatters to open the second half, Meechie Johnson hit a three. That marked his seventh game this season with a three-pointer made. A minute later, Kobe Knox hit a layup and got the foul call as the lead hit 20 points for the first time in the afternoon. Last season, Knox played against Stetson while at South Florida, and scored 12 points. He ended the day with eight points in today’s win.

Grant Polk added a three out of the second media timeout of the second half, marking the fourth game this season the freshman has hit multiple threes. Eli Ellis added a steal and basket on the other end shortly after as the Gamecocks continued to add to their lead. By the time Grant Polk hit another three with just under ten minutes to go, the lead ballooned to 30.

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The Hatters offense momentarily heated up in the second half, as Ethan Copeland hit shots from deep on consecutive possessions. But the deficit was too large for Stetson to attempt anything resembling a comeback. South Carolina’s offense continued to click, and winning the battle of the boards was key to that. The Gamecocks held a 16-9 margin rebounding at half and only added to it in the second.

Ten different players for South Carolina recorded multiple rebounds. The Gamecocks finished the day with a lopsided rebounding margin of 41-20. By the time the final horn sounded, South Carolina recorded their second ever 30+ point victory in the Paris era.

Up next: The Gamecocks will be back at home again on Saturday, Dec. 13, as they will host The Citadel. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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