South Carolina men's basketball keeps offensive identity despite faster pace

South Carolina opened its 2025-26 season by matching its season-high in points from a season ago, scoring 91 points against North Carolina A&T. Though it’s a one-game sample size, the Gamecocks’ offense operated at a speed it hasn’t before during the Lamont Paris era.

While possession numbers remained similar, with South Carolina having 71 possessions on Tuesday compared to its average of 69 in 2024-25, it is the efficiency in those possessions that has the offensive pace up.

“To me, pace is, ‘How quickly do you get from one action to another action?’ Our pace is, I would say, significantly better than last year,” Paris said Friday. “But efficiency reigns supreme when it comes to what your offense ultimately looks like. And I think we’ve been pretty efficient.”

That said, while the pace is up and the offense looks more efficient, the Gamecock offense still operates the Paris way: slow the game down and grind out possessions.

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Early stats support Paris’s assessment of the team’s pace if you compare them to past seasons. South Carolina’s adjusted tempo, according to Bartorvik, averaged 70.1 against NC A&T. That number is the highest in the Paris era.

Points per possession have also been an early improvement for the Gamecocks.

“It’s been good in some of the other exhibition games and scrimmages that we’ve had, too. So I’ve been really happy with that,” Paris said.

The Gamecocks, combining their exhibition against NC State and their opener against NC A&T, average 1.30 points per possession. A lot of that comes from South Carolina’s efficiency and three-point shooting on Tuesday. Their 14 made threes on Tuesday were more than any game from the 2025-26 season.

Paris said, based on the quality of shots the Gamecocks had against the Aggies, South Carolina should’ve made 20 or more from deep.

“I’ve always believed your propensity to make shots is directly related to the quality of shot you create by way of moving, by way of screening, by way of recognition,” Paris said. “So I thought we did a really good job in terms of creating high-quality shots that we can make.”

Efficient scoring also involves being able to distribute the ball effectively. All of South Carolina’s 12 players who played on Tuesday recorded at least one assist. In the exhibition against NC State, seven of the Gamecocks’ 11 players recorded an assist.

“I told them I’d never been around in a game, either that I coached the team that did it or the opposing team, that I heard every single player that went in the game had an assist,” Paris said. “So, you know, they took some pride in that. They were happy about that. And so I think they think that that’s a real, a real weapon for us.”

South Carolina looks to continue its opening efficiency on Sunday night against Southern Miss. The Gamecocks know that, even when they build a lead, they can’t let off. That scenario already appeared when South Carolina saw a 15-point lead against NC State turn into a two-point loss.

“We’re focusing on us and what we’re doing. And then allowing what we’re doing to take care of itself on the court,” Meechie Johnson said Tuesday postgame. “So just, staying true to ourselves. Not trying to get too high, too low. Just staying right where we need to be.”

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