South Carolina Basketball: Three thumbs up, three thumbs down from heartbreaking loss to Clemson

Both the South Carolina basketball squad and the Clemson Tigers rolled into Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday night with identical 7-0 records. The two overachieving teams are, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, firmly in the NCAA Tournament discussion with Clemson in the field and the Gamecocks “on the bubble” in his projections.

A tightly contested game went the way of the Tigers on Wednesday.

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris wasn’t satisfied with his team’s play in the 2nd half of the game as the Gamecocks blew an 11-point lead.

However, the Gamecocks did not play that poorly. In fact, they gave Clemson their toughest game of the season as every other home game they’d played this season was a blowout.

South Carolina basketball can’t be happy with “moral victories,” though. Shot-making was not good enough (other than Meechie Johnson who had 26 points), and perimeter defense failed when it mattered most.

In the end, the Gamecocks fell to their in-state rival in a game that just slipped through their fingers.

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