South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from demolition at the hands of Auburn Tigers

South Carolina basketball had their 7-game winning streak snapped in a humiliating 41-point loss to the Auburn Tigers in Neville Arena.

Almost nothing went well for the Gamecocks in this one as there are good arguments that this game was the worst offensive performance and (certainly) the worst defensive performance of the year for Lamont Paris' team.

Collin Murray-Boyles and Meechie Johnson were good, and BJ Mack was okay. Other than that, the Gamecocks got virtually no production anywhere else on the roster. No one played consistently well on defense (though CMB, Johnson, and Zach Davis weren't bad), and the "team play" was abysmal.

South Carolina finished with just 5 assists on 18 made shots, they didn't rotate or help well on defense, and they didn't rebound the ball as well as the numbers would indicate (29-29 tie on the boards was helped by 6 "offensive rebounds" off of Auburn blocks).

Perhaps most concerning, though, the Gamecocks looked like they were playing scared most of the game. They did not play "their game" on offense, matching Auburn's fast pace instead of slowing things down to where they are comfortable. They didn't play hard on defense. They turned the ball over and committed a lot of fouls.

Auburn played well, and that was a factor in the score, but they simply outmatched Carolina athletically in this game, and they made open outside shots. Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome set a new season-high for made 3-pointers, combining to go 9-12 from outside.

The Gamecocks have to flush this game and move on if they have any hope left of winning the SEC.

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