South Carolina shoots its way to a strong opening night win
Despite being picked last in the SEC this year, Lamont Paris has continued to feel like his team will be much better than that. He knows the talent level is much better compared to last year.
So far, so good. There’s still a long way to go in this season but things got off to a good start for South Carolina, who defeated USC Upstate, 82-53, on Wednesday.
How it happened
Unlike last week’s exhibition game, it didn’t take long for the Gamecocks (1-0) to get going. Scoring came at a premium and they jumped out to an early lead.
It all started with Meechie Johnson, who went 0-for-8 shooting last Wednesday, got off to a hot start. He knocked down three early shots, two of which came from three-point range.
Things started out well as South Carolina built a double-digit lead. A lot of it came down to not just making shots but also winning the rebound battle. It had 20 rebounds compared to just 12 from Upstate in the first half.
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Despite that, the Spartans slowly closed the gap and got it down to a six-point deficit.
However, the Gamecocks picked it back up and closed out the first half making their final six shots. By halftime, they were winning by 14 points.
Once halftime ended, the hot streak continued. After two Upstate buckets, South Carolina went on a 12-2 run and eventually took a 20-plus point lead.
There was never a point in the second half where it got close. The Spartans occasionally hit some shots, but the Gamecocks answered right back.
The lead only grew due to how well things were going from the beyond the arc. South Carolina finished 12-for-22 from three-point range and 29-for-55 overall.
Four starters scored in the double-digits: Johnson, BJ Mack, Myles Stute and Ta’Lon Cooper.
Two observations
Streaky at times but overall solid night—It wasn’t always pretty in the first half, but the Gamecocks got it going and really took command in the final minutes before halftime and it carried over the rest of the way. It’s only one game but it was a good start to year two of Paris’ tenure.
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Splitting the shots up well—A big point of emphasis this year was how the shots would be shared amongst the team. On Monday, it seemed everyone got a chance to have their moment and get a few baskets. 10 players had two or more shots in the game.
Key stat
45 to 27—It’s not the biggest stat of the night but it’s important nonetheless. If South Carolina is going to win some games this year, it has to be better in the paint and collect rebounds. And it did the job on Monday. Upstate only had six second chance points.
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Turning point
With South Carolina’s double-digit lead trimmed in the first half, it looked like Upstate was in line to make a comeback. However, a pair of threes made by Cooper and Morris Ugusuk quickly got the lead back up to 14 heading into halftime. And the Gamecocks would stay in front the rest of the way.
Up next
South Carolina has a few days off before heading to Charlotte on Friday to take on Virginia Tech. Tip-off is at 9:30 p.m. from the Spectrum Center on the ACC Network.
