South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks’ Losing Streak Grows to Six

Coming off of a loss on the road in Athens, Lamont Paris and his South Carolina basketball team felt they should have brought home a W. The team’s better play against Mike White’s Georgia Bulldog squad may have inspired some confidence in the Gamecocks who played much better than expected defensively in the first half of Tuesday night’s kerfuffle with the other Bulldogs of Mississippi State.

Mississippi State relentlessly attacked the paint during the first twenty minutes of play, but South Carolina’s Josh Gray befuddled forwards Tolu Smith and DJ Jeffries, helping hold the dynamic duo to just 6 points. However, the focus on Smith and Jeffries created opportunities for others as South Carolina’s other defenders couldn’t keep Shakeel Moore and Cameron Matthews out of the paint as the duo combined for 20 of the Bulldogs’ 32 first-half points.

For the Gamecocks, star freshman GG Jackson struggled to get going against the length of Mississippi State, matching his turnover count (4) with his first-half points scored. Meechie Johnson scored in double figures during the first period, but two separate three-minute scoring droughts kept the Gamecocks behind. A clean first half in which both teams committed only six fouls ended with Mississippi State leading 32-26 as the Bulldogs finished the half on a lightning-quick 11-4 run.

The second half started with Josh Gray’s continued defensive mastery, as he put together several stops against Tolu Smith early in the half. Unfortunately for the ‘Cocks, they could not hold onto the basketball as several bad turnovers led to points for the team in maroon and white. Consecutive deep threes from GG Jackson and Meechie Johnson cut the deficit back to six, but State responded with a run of their own to extend their lead to 14.

In the Gamecocks’ second straight matchup against a physical opponent, the team wore down again as the second-half clock ticked away. Shots fell short as Gamecock legs got tired, and when Josh Gray wasn’t playing or got moved away from the basket, the paint was open for Bulldog business. A spirited comeback effort around the midpoint of the half was thwarted as turnovers and missed shots piled up for Carolina. All confidence displayed during a solid first half disappeared, and Mississippi State severely outplayed the Gamecocks the last ten minutes of the game.

Gray was the most important player for South Carolina Tuesday night, finishing with 14 rebounds while playing tough interior defense against one of the conference’s best players in Tolu Smith. The rest of the team struggled on defense, however, as Mississippi State shot over 50% for the game. Combining the poor defensive showing with continued inefficient offense, Head Coach Lamont Paris was caught by the SECNetwork camera on several occasions looking downright flabbergasted at his team’s inability to put together any stretches of solid play in the second half.

In the end, Mississippi State won the rebound battle by a count of 33 to 27 and outshot South Carolina 53% to 34%. Shakeel Moore set his career high in points (22) for the Bulldogs, leading his team to a convincing 66-51 victory.

The Gamecocks will host Arkansas on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena.