South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from VMI win

. South Carolina Gamecocks. PLAYING HARD . Thumbs Up. The Gamecocks didn’t play very well, but they did play hard. BJ Mack had his best effort performance of the year, Meechie Johnson played very hard despite struggling, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk hustled and fought for rebounds like always, and Myles Stute found ways to contribute when he didn’t have his jump shot working. That is a big deal for a South Carolina basketball fanbase that saw their favorite team quit numerous times in recent seasons when things didn’t go well for them on the court.

Thumbs Up. Part of the high-effort performance on Monday night was the Gamecocks’ assault on the offensive boards. The Gamecocks had 21 rebounds off their own misses, led by a combined 13 from Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk and BJ Mack. That is an absolute must for any team that shoots the ball as poorly as USC did against VMI. The Gamecocks won by 10, and they had 12 second-chance points from offensive rebounds.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. THE OFFENSIVE GLASS

Thumbs Up. Zach Davis and Ebrima Dibba did not play on Monday due to an undisclosed issue. Josh Gray played just 2 minutes after being ill and missing Friday’s game against Virginia Tech. In the stead of these players, some Gamecocks played a greater share of minutes than normal. Ta’Lon Cooper was on the court for 33 minutes, BJ Mack played 29, and Myles Stute played 28. Bench players like Jacobi Wright, Morris Ugusuk, and Eli Sparkman played more than usual by spending 25, 24, and 10 minutes on the floor, respectively. While the game was not pretty, the Gamecocks won the contest despite missing some players and having a less-than-stellar performance.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. EXTRA MINUTES