South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks play well in opening win over USC-Upstate

South Carolina Basketball vs. USC-Upstate:
Statistics, Scoring, and Observations

Lamont Paris’ South Carolina basketball squad started strong against USC-Upstate, and they never relented, finishing the game well and keeping a nice-sized margin over the Spartans for most of the game.

Here are the stats from the game.

STATS

USC-Upstate

Points

Leader: Justin Bailey with 13

Rebounds

Leader: Ahmir Langlais with 7

Assists

Leader: Trae Broadnax and Jorge Ochoa with 3 each

Steals

Leader: Justin Bailey with 3

Blocks

Leader: Ahmir Langlais with 3

Other

Only one player from USC-Upstate took more than 5 shots and made 50% or better (Jordyn Surratt).

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper with 15 each

Rebounds

Leader: Zach Davis with 8

Assists

Leader: Meechie Johnson, Morris Ugusuk, and Meechie Johnson with 3 each

Steals

Leader: Zach Davis with 3

Blocks

Leader: 4 players with 1 each

Other

BJ Mack scored 13 points; Myles Stute scored 10 points and collected 6 rebounds; Ta’Lon Cooper had 7 rebounds; Josh Gray had 3 points, 6 rebounds, and a block in less than 10 minutes; The Gamecocks shot over 50% from the field and over 50% from 3-point land.

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Ta’Lon Cooper-Meechie Johnson-Myles Stute-BJ Mack-Stephen Clark
• Collin Murray-Boyles is out with mononucleosis. He will be sidelined indefinitely.
• Myles Stute got some minutes at the 4 on Monday in addition to his starting role at the 3.
• Meechie Johnson looked so much sharper against Upstate than he did against Wofford.
• BJ Mack played confidently but struggled to see the ball go through the hoop in the first half. He found his shot in the second.
• Myles Stute, BJ Mack, Ta’Lon Cooper, and Meechie Johnson all looked good shooting from outside.
• Jacobi Wright was a solid, consistent offensive presence.
• Coach Paris went with a deep bench in this one. 12 Gamecocks played in the first half.
• The rebounding effort was solid, especially from the guards and wings.
• The Gamecocks had a very efficient offensive game plan: attack the rim and take open 3-point jump shots. It worked out very well.
• Josh Gray struggled for most of the game in limited action. The revamped system doesn’t fit his game as much, but he’s too good of a player and too big of a force in the paint for the Gamecocks not to find a good way to use him moving forward.
  • The end of the game saw big #33 play very well, potentially indicative of some positive momentum for Gray.
• Eli Sparkman came in the game before freshmen Arden Conyers, Austin Herro, and Danny Grajzl.
• The biggest knock against South Carolina basketball in this game was that they turned the ball over too much.