South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from Notre Dame win

Thumbs Up. Meechie Johnson went off against Notre Dame. The Gamecock guard scored a career-high 29 points on efficient 9-15/4-9/7-8 shooting. Right when Notre Dame took a brief 2nd half lead, Johnson made back-to-back long balls to put his team back on top for good. He also added 5 rebounds (tied for the team lead), 1 steal, and 1 assist while limiting himself to just 1 turnover in 35 minutes.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. MARVELOUS MEECHIE

South Carolina Gamecocks. BOUNCE BACK BJ . Thumbs Up. BJ Mack started the game slowly. While he scored 7 points in the 1st half, he started 2-6 from the field, had just 1 rebound, and got yanked from the game as part of a large substitution due to poor team defense early in the 2nd half. Once re-inserted, Mack played much better, adding 10 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist down the stretch. He also partnered with Meechie Johnson at the most critical point of the game to make 8 of 9 shots for the Gamecocks. They also made 15 of the team’s 19 field goals on the day..

The entire South Carolina basketball team had a pretty good day on defense, but Zach Davis, Ta’Lon Cooper, Meechie Johnson, and Morris Ugusuk used their length on the perimeter to erase dynamic Notre Dame guard Markus Burton and cause problems for the rest of the Irish team. After some tough moments earlier in the game, BJ Mack’s strength on defense created problems down low for the Notre Dame post players.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. DISRUPTIVE DEFENSE . Thumbs Up