The South Carolina basketball team got off to a 1-0 start in its 2021-22 campaign by taking down instate foe USC Upstate by a score of 78-60 last night. It wasn’t always pretty, as is the case in many season openers, but the Gamecocks hunkered down after a rough start to leave Colonial Life Arena with a win.
Frank Martin’s group is full of new faces, so many fans didn’t know quite what to expect in the South Carolina’s first matchup. Those newcomers proved to be integral parts of the program, though, with Josh Gray, Erik Stevenson, and James Reese each notching eight points or more in their Gamecock debuts.
Of course, the veterans also made an impact, with third-year players Jermaine Couisnard and Wildens Leveque pacing the team in scoring. The teammates combined to score 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Leveque, in particular, filled up the stat sheet with a pair of blocks, two steals, and eight boards. Couisnard added seven assists to his 14 points to lead the team.
While the Gamecocks shined in certain areas, there was definitely some room for improvement in others. The South Carolina defense stifled the Spartans but the offense struggled at times to put the ball in the basket. Coach Martin was frustrated with ball movement on occasion but also understands that his newcomers are still learning to mesh as a unit.
"“We’ve got to make more perimeter shots than we did. You can’t make them all, but you can make the ones that you can make… I thought we got stagnant on offense at times, which was a little disappointing, but we have so many first-year guys, that stuff is going to happen.”"
With all of that being said, let’s take a look at what the Gamecocks did well, where they can improve, and what’s to come in the future.