South Carolina’s men’s basketball team is off to a rocky start in SEC play, beginning 0-3 after losses to Mississippi State, Alabama and Auburn.
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South Carolina’s men’s basketball team is off to a rocky start in SEC play, beginning 0-3 after losses to Mississippi State, Alabama and Auburn.
It was a tough stretch to start the SEC schedule for the Gamecocks who entered conference play 10-3. The Gamecocks were 1-2 against ranked teams during that run.
All three of South Carolina’s first SEC games came against ranked competition. The team’s first two games were ugly blowouts, losing to No. 17 Mississippi State 85-50 and No. 5 Alabama 88-68.
The Gamecocks did show some fight against No. 2 Auburn and were a few plays away from one of the biggest upsets of the year. The team had a lead against the Tigers in the game’s closing minutes, but Auburn held on to escape with a 66-63 win.
Following the Auburn game, head coach Lamont Paris spoke about the importance of responding to those early losses and building momentum moving forward.
“You have to turn the page and get to the next thing because it’s such a good league,” Paris said. “I think if we had lost by 27, I think it’s harder to turn the page for a young person. … Growth, I think it mandates that you respond properly to the failures and the obstacles that are there.”
In a league as stacked as the SEC is this season, it is important the team responds fast and corrects course. Nine teams are ranked in the top-25 and every team has at least 10 wins at this point in the season.
The Gamecocks struggled on offense in its losses, scoring under 70 points in all three games. South Carolina is the lowest-scoring offense in the SEC and ranks near the bottom in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and assists.
South Carolina’s defense has been its bright spot this season, but Mississippi State and Alabama both found enough success to separate from the Gamecocks less dynamic offense.
The Auburn game, despite being a loss, gave Paris a sense of optimism. He said he could see the improvement from practice.
“It’s amazing how many times when you really emphasize something, and then you go into a game, and in that game, you do those things better,” Paris said. “We had spent some time in the last couple of practices on attacking downhill and making strong moves towards the basket.”
Against Auburn, both the offense and defense came together and gave the team a chance to knock off the No. 2 ranked team in the nation. South Carolina held Auburn to under 50% from the floor after letting both Mississippi State and Alabama shoot over 50%.
South Carolina is also dealing with two big injuries that are sidelining some important players.
Myles Stute is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. A few days later, it was announced Jamari Thomas, the team’s second-leading scorer, will miss three to four weeks with an ankle sprain.
These losses have resulted in more playing time from less experienced players such as freshman Arden Conyers. The former Westwood star took a redshirt year last season and has seen an uptick in playing time following Stute’s absence.
Conyers played 19 minutes in the Alabama game and 31 against Auburn. Before the game against the Crimson Tide, Conyers appeared in seven games and never logged more than eight minutes.
He struggled a bit against Alabama, shooting 1-6 from the floor. He showed a lot more promise against Auburn, scoring 13 points on 40% shooting, including 3-6 made shots from behind the three-point line.
For the team to get back on track and snap its three-game slide while also missing two crucial contributors, it will take more than improvement from just Conyers.
The Gamecocks have two chances this week to earn its first SEC win. The team will be on the road twice first at Vanderbilt on Wednesday after the Chronicle’s press deadline. Saturday, the team will travel to Oklahoma and take on the Sooners.
After those two games comes a brutal seven-game stretch, all against ranked opponents.
The Gamecocks will face No.5 Florida before a rematch with No. 15 Mississippi State. Then, they travel to take on No. 23 Georgia before returning home and facing No. 11 Texas A&M. The team will head to Kentucky after that for a meeting against the No. 8 ranked Wildcats and then come home for a game against No. 21 Ole Miss. The stretch of ranked opponents ends how it began with a game against Florida, this time on the road.
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