South Carolina Basketball: Three thumbs up, three thumbs down from Virginia Tech win
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris picked up his 100th career victory late Friday night as the Gamecocks beat the Mike Young-led Virginia Tech Hokies in Charlotte in the third leg of the Hall of Fame Series.
The Gamecocks were the better team the majority of the night, and outside of a quick start that saw Virginia Tech go up 15-10, South Carolina basketball held down a potent VT offense that is loaded with outside shooting and athletic bigs.
The CourtCocks got a red-hot shooting performance from Myles Stute (5-6 from 3-point range, 7-11 from the field), and several other Carolina veterans did their jobs perfectly. Ta’Lon Cooper scored efficiently and passed even more efficiently. Jacobi Wright provided an offensive spark. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk rebounded and battled. BJ Mack provided scoring and some rebounding. Meechie Johnson stuffed the stat sheet.
A really poor stretch of defense in the second half made the game closer than it should have been, and a couple of statistical discrepancies (22-8 free throw deficit and 10-5 turnover deficit) almost cost USC the game.
However, in the end, South Carolina basketball is 2-0 after a hard-fought win over a good Virginia Tech team.