South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down vs. South Dakota State

. South Carolina Gamecocks. SHOOTING WOES . Thumbs Down. The rims at Colonial Life Arena took a beating on Monday night. South Carolina shot 0-12 from deep and needed a hot finish to get to just 43% from the field. They also had another poor showing from the free throw line as they shot 55.6%. Thankfully for the Gamecocks, South Dakota State was even worse as they shot under 30% from the field and right at 50% from the free throw line. They did manage to make two shots from deep, however. If South Carolina basketball throws up another clunky shooting performance like that against a good team, the end result might look different than this one. The Gamecocks missed Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson a lot from a shooting efficiency standpoint.

Thumbs Down. While the free throw shooting (other than from Kamilla Cardoso) was really bad for the Gamecocks, they should have tried to get to the line more often. On a night in which shots weren’t falling, dynamic drivers like MiLaysia Fulwiley, Raven Johnson, and Chloe Kitts probably should have attacked the lane more often. Fulwiley and Johnson each made their fair share of layups, but most of them were on fast breaks. The halfcourt plan seemed to be “throw it to Cardoso and hope she scores.” Honestly, that’s not a terrible game plan most of the time, but the Gamecock guards and wings needed to take matters into their own hands as drivers a little more often. Cardoso drew 8 foul shots on Monday, and the rest of the team went to the line for a combined 10 more attempts.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. NOT ENOUGH FREE THROWS

Thumbs Down. Much like free throws, layups should be converted at extremely efficient rates. On Monday, the Gamecocks made less than 60% of their layups, and that includes the fact that they made a number of wide-open layups on the fast break. In the halfcourt, Gamecocks from all positions missed some bunnies. Had it not been for 21 offensive rebounds, USC would have had a much worse night on the scoreboard because of all of the easy misses.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. LAYUPS

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