South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from Gamecocks' win over Florida
By Kevin Miller
The Gamecocks trailed 37-31 at halftime following a really poor rebounding effort in the 1st half. BJ Mack, in particular, didn't have his best performance, and Meechie Johnson started slowly.
The 2nd half saw the Gamecocks correct their rebounding problems, keeping the Gators to just 1 offensive rebound and beating Todd Golden's team on the glass. A strong 11 minutes after halftime from Josh Gray saw the big fella pull down just 1 board, but his efforts boxing out and contesting shots helped his teammates gather missed shots and forced Florida into lots of misses near the basket.
South Carolina exploded on offense in the 2nd half, as well, scoring 51 points. A 21-point half from Meechie Johnson (on 9-10 shooting!!!) was complimented by 11 from Collin Murray-Boyles (including 9-10 from the free throw line). Johnson and Ta'Lon Cooper combined to go 4-5 from the perimeter in the final 20 minutes, as well.
The turning point in the game came when Coach Paris made a defensive adjustment. With the Gators up by 9 points (they had led by 10 just before), he switched his team to a 1-3-1 zone for about 8 minutes. During that stretch, Carolina forced 6 turnovers and stormed back to take the lead.
Clutch buckets from Johnson and Cooper and late free throws from Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles helped keep the Gamecocks ahead after retaking the lead late. A CMB block and Zach Davis free throws iced the game, and Lamont Paris' team moved to 24-5 with the 82-76 win.
526. South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators. 82. 533. Final. 76