South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks are Arizona Tipoff Tournament champions

South Carolina Basketball vs. Grand Canyon:
Statistics, Scoring, and Observations

Lamont Paris’ South Carolina basketball team had a tough fight against a good Grand Canyon squad in the championship game of the Arizona Tipoff. South Carolina outplayed Grand Canyon in almost every way, but a rebounding deficit and large free throw discrepancy kept things competitive the whole way.

In the end, the Gamecocks left Arizona with the hardware and a 5-0 record. The last time South Carolina basketball started 5-0? When the Sindarius Thornwell-led Gamecocks made it to the Final 4.

Here are the stats from the game:

STATS

Grand Canyon

Points

Leader: Gabe McGlothan with 18

Rebounds

Leader: Gabe McGlothan with 9

Assists

Leader: Ray Harrison with 3

Steals

Leader: Three players tied with 1

Blocks

Leader: Tyon Grant-Foster with 1

Other

The Antelopes shot 23-27 from the free throw line. Tyon Grant-Foster (16) and Collin Moore (15) combined for 31 points.

South Carolina

Points

Leader: BJ Mack with 27

Rebounds

Leader: Meechie Johnson with 6

Assists

Leader: Ta’Lon Cooper with 5

Steals

Leader: Three players tied with 1

Blocks

Leader: Stephen Clark with 1

Other

BJ Mack went 9-9 from the free throw line; Myles Stute (12) and Jacobi Wright (10) finished in double-figures; Josh Gray had 3 rebounds and drew 3 fouls in 6 minutes

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Ta’Lon Cooper-Meechie Johnson-Myles Stute-BJ Mack-Stephen Clark
• Meechie Johnson was aggressive again early, driving the lane for layup attempts and kicking out to open shooters. He was also a very smart cutter in the early goings of the game.
• For the second straight game, Johnson tried to throw an alley-oop to Zach Davis in a 3-on-1 fast-break situation. For the second straight game, it failed.
• Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk was the first big off the bench, Jacobi Wright was the first guard, and Zach Davis was the first wing. Morris Ugusuk and Josh Gray also got some 1st half minutes.
• The Carolina defense was really good in the 1st half. Grand Canyon shot just 33% in the opening 20 minutes.
• The rebounding effort was pathetic in the 1st half. South Carolina basketball was outrebounded 16-12 by the much smaller GCU team. Stephen Clark had 0 rebounds in 9 minutes despite being one of the two tallest players to be on the court. Forwards and wings BJ Mack, Josh Gray, Zach Davis, and Myles Stute combined for just 4 boards in 33 minutes. Only Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk rebounded well, snagging 3 rebounds in 9 minutes.
• After starting off without many turnovers, the Gamecocks really struggled to hold onto the basketball during the back end of the 1st half. USC finished the half with 9 turnovers.
• The officiating was very inconsistent in the 2nd half. For some stretches of play, they called nothing. Then, they’d inexplicably call 4 fouls in 2 minutes.
• Neither team turned the ball over much in the 2nd half.
• BJ Mack had a really nice game offensively, scoring in the paint and making outside jumpers. His first 20-point game of the year ended with him scoring 27.
• The free throw discrepancy was vast (27-16, including a few extra attempts for Carolina in late-game situations) and was the only reason why GCU was in the game.
• The rotation in this game was much tighter. Only 6 Gamecocks (Cooper, Johnson, Stute, Clark, Mack, and Wright) played over 12 minutes. BBV (11), Davis (12), Gray (6), and Ugusuk (6) all saw fewer minutes than normal.
• The game was one of the best combined free throw efficiency efforts this season across college basketball. The two teams both shot over 85% from the line.
• Carolina has to rebound better moving forward. GCU outrebounded USC 30-23, and just one Gamecock (guard Meechie Johnson) had more than 3 rebounds.