How South Carolina MBB survived stiff home test from Charleston Southern
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Meechie Johnson watched as a Charleston Southern pass flew by and into the scorers table. Exhale — that was a needed turnover. The South Carolina men’s basketball team needed the ball back to make it a two-score game against the Buccaneers.
Three minutes later, Johnson was tripped up and given three free throws. He hit them all. Another exhale.
USC, despite trading leads 12 times Saturday, survived Charleston Southern 73-69 at Colonial Life Arena in the first of four home games to close out the nonconference schedule. The Gamecocks improved to 9-1 with the win.
Big man basketball
For a team that relies heavily on its starting guards to score, South Carolina’s offense came from the biggest players on the court.
BJ Mack still bolstered the heaviest load, finishing with yet another double-digit night to lead the Gamecocks. But Collin Murray-Boyles, Myles Stute and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk combined for 20 points against Charleston Southern.
Bosmans-Verdonk’s seven points were his season-high, and Murray-Boyles’ seven points were a career-high.
Post-exam week slump
The opening 20 minutes felt eerily similar to how South Carolina fared against VMI on Nov. 13 — a bit lackluster with a sprinkle of sloppy plays. Charleston Southern had some extra pep in its step throughout the first half, keeping it a one-score game by halftime.
The Gamecocks were creating some chaos on defense, but couldn’t get a jump ball or a clean turnover. They could pass the ball fine, but weren’t moving around a lot. Paris was screaming to “cut around” loud enough to be heard while USC was inbounding and on offense.
Still, USC had done enough for 65% from the field and 50% from three by halftime. It was enough to hold onto the lead, just not extend it.
The finals week bye of sorts forced USC to play its third-straight game relying on clutch free throws, rebounds and late offensive possessions.
Powered by little runs
Every coach and player says it every game — basketball is a game of runs. South Carolina didn’t have any overwhelmingly large runs against the Buccaneers, but the smaller ones seemed to do the trick.
A few 6-0 spurts or going 4-for-4 from the field helped keep Charleston Southern from leading by more than one score. The Buccaneers’ defense didn’t make it easy for South Carolina to just put the game away, and excelled at stalling Johnson for the majority of the first half. He didn’t score his first points until five minutes left in the half, and finished the game with 15 points.
Charleston Southern’s biggest advantage was having seven blocks to USC’s none. The Gamecocks were turned away four times by halftime, and USC was getting increasingly frustrated by the number of blocked shots.
Next four games
Dec. 19 vs. Winthrop, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 22 vs. Elon, 6 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 30 vs. Florida A&M, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Jan. 6 vs. Mississippi State, Noon (CBS)
