South Carolina basketball fans felt something different in the air on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks sold out Colonial Life Arena, a blackout was in play, and Carolina was ready. The mighty Kentucky Wildcats came into Columbia ranked #6 in the country, but they will be ranked so high when the next batch of rankings comes out next week after USC dominated Big Blue for the largest win over a top-10 opponent in program history.
The first half was more of a defensive slog as both teams forced turnovers, blocked shots, and played at a frenetic pace. The Gamecocks are used to ugly basketball, though, and they came out of it with an 8-point lead after a Zach Davis 3-ball right before the buzzer. Ta'Lon Cooper and Jacobi Wright had 17 of the team's 33 points, and Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles seemed to be everywhere.
The game style changed drastically in the 2nd half as both teams scored more frequently and quieted the turnovers. However, the result was the same as South Carolina won the final 20 minutes by 9 points even with the offensive flow that, theoretically, should have favored the Wildcats.
For the game, Ta'Lon Cooper led all scorers with 20 points, and he made some really difficult shots along the way to get to that total. Meechie Johnson and Jacobi Wright each had 14, and Wright made his first four 3-pointers of the game. Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles were forces inside, combining for 15 rebounds and 15 points on just 11 shots. CMB also added 3 blocks and 2 steals to go with an impressive 5 assists.
Carolina assisted on 20 of their 29 makes (compared to 7 of 25 for Kentucky), and Lamont Paris' squad had just two turnovers in the 2nd half (one coming in garbage time).
After smacking Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena and embarrassing John Calipari's Wildcats in back-to-back games, South Carolina basketball has announced that they are here to stay.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats:
Thumbs Up 1: Lamont Paris
There is no other way to put it: Lamont Paris coached circles around John Calipari on Tuesday night.
Paris, who is not normally known for his in-game coaching but is known as a developer and a leader of men, was aggressive with the grease board against Kentucky. He had a clear game plan to attack certain players when they came in the game (namely Zvonimir Ivisic), and he had multiple really nice out-of-bounds plays drawn up that killed the Wildcats' suspect defense.
Coach Paris subbed well, allowing Josh Gray and BJ Mack to stay fresh, and he rode Jacobi Wright when he had the hot hand shooting the basketball. When things needed to settle down, he called on his veteran point guard Ta'Lon Cooper to run the show. When the Gamecocks needed to put their foot on UK's collective throats, he ordered his team to attack.
Carolina ran a lot of pick-and-roll to compliment their usual high volume of pick-and-pop, as well, and the switch seemed to fluster the Big Blue defense.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats:
Thumbs Up 2: Ta'Lon Cooper
There were several Gamecocks who were really good against Kentucky, but the best player on the floor was Ta'Lon Cooper. He did it all in the dominant USC victory, scoring 20 points (on just 11 shots!!!), dishing out 5 assists, pulling down 6 rebounds, blocking 2 shots, and playing really solid defense on Kentucky's guards.
The way Cooper got to his 20 points so efficiently was impressive. He took some really tough shots at the end of the shot clock and smoothly eviscerated Big Z after a switch on two occasions. When Jacobi Wright's hot shooting touch faded and typical high scorers Meechie Johnson and BJ Mack were a little off, Cooper carried the load.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats:
Thumbs Up 3: Big Men
Kentucky has three 7-footers on their roster who would start on almost every team in the country. You would have no idea that was the case if Tuesday night was the only Wildcat game you've seen this season.
Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles were dominant forces in the paint, holding Aaron Bradshaw to just 3 shot attempts in 21 minutes, Ugonna Onyenso to 1 attempt in 10 minutes, and Big Z to 3 attempts in 10 minutes. Tre Mitchell had some success down low, but most of his good work came after switches or when Stephen Clark was in the game.
Gray, in just 11 minutes, had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 dunks (2 on Big Z). Murray-Boyles scored 6 points, pulled down 9 boards, dished out 5 assists, blocked 3 shots, had 2 steals, and had a big dunk of his own over Big Z. BJ Mack didn't have his best night as a scorer but made two 3-pointers in the 2nd half and brought in 7 rebounds.
The Gamecocks held Kentucky to 8-21 on layup attempts. Whew.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Thumbs Down 1: Top Scorers Struggled
BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson are the two best scorers on the South Carolina basketball team. However, they both struggled on offense for most of this game. A couple of 3-point makes from both players after the game was relatively out of hand made their nights look a little better than they really were. Ta'Lon Cooper and Jacobi Wright filled the void, and the whole team played well on defense (even Mack), so the problem didn't hurt the Gamecocks tonight.
However, moving forward, USC will need their best scorers to put the ball through the hoop when they don't get a superhuman effort from Ta'Lon Cooper or a 4-4 start from 3-point land from Jacobi Wright.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Thumbs Down 2: 1st Half Sloppiness
South Carolina took an 8-point lead into halftime against Kentucky, and it still didn't feel like the Gamecocks played very well on offense. They shot 42% from the field (not terrible, but not good enough considering the good looks they got), and they turned the ball over 7 times. Carolina also only drew 7 total fouls and shot just 3 free throws (all by Stephen Clark).
BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson were 3-14 and 0-3 from outside, and the offense was largely reliant upon the fact that Jacobi Wright and Ta'Lon Cooper were 5-6 from the perimeter. Everything worked out for USC as the defense was stifling, and they righted the ship offensively in the 2nd half. However, Carolina needs to get out to a better start on offense next time out.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Thumbs Up 3: The SEC Media
The final "Thumbs Down" from the Kentucky game goes to the SEC media. Why? Because the SEC media voted this South Carolina basketball team to be the worst team in the conference in the 2023-2024 season, that's why.