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.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Up 1: 2nd Half Adjustments
Coach Lamont Paris showed off his in-game coaching chops against Florida.
After a brutal rebounding effort in the 1st half that included 8 offensive boards for the Gators (in a slow-paced game), Coach Paris corrected the issue. After the intermission, Carolina gave up just 1 offensive rebound, even though the pace quickened and Florida had more misses (meaning more offensive rebounding opportunities).
Inserting Josh Gray into a more prominent role in place of BJ Mack helped out. He didn't light up the box score, but he worked hard and boxed out well, helping his teammates get rebounds.
The defense also took a step forward. An 8-minute stretch of play saw Paris utilize a 1-3-1 zone, and the zone flummoxed the Gator offense. With just 4 turnovers before the shift to the zone, Florida committed 6 turnovers in 8 minutes against the new look. The Gamecocks went on a 23-10 run to come back and then take control of the game.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Up 2: 2nd Half Stars
Whether it was a coaching adjustment or just players executing better, the Gamecock offense was much better after halftime, just like the defense.
Meechie Johnson was the star, scoring 21 of his 25 points after the 1st half ended. He shot 9-10 from the field and played excellent defense in the 1-3-1.
Collin Murray-Boyles lived at the free throw line, and the fabulous freshman made 9-10 from the stripe after halftime as he went off for 11 points to compliment Johnson's effort. He logged his first career double-double.
Ta'Lon Cooper did Ta'Lon Cooper things, playing turnover-free basketball after halftime. He also made both of 3-pointers.
Zach Davis didn't score much (just 2 points from the free throw line after the game was basically over), but he was a menace at the top of the 1-3-1 zone, and he was one of three Gamecock backcourt players (along with Johnson and Cooper) to pick up 2 steals in the 2nd half.
Josh Gray, filling in for the struggling BJ Mack, anchored the post defense along with Collin Murray-Boyles. The Gamecocks allowed 37.5% shooting on layup attempts as Gray and CMB did a great job bothering shots.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Up 3: Free Throws
South Carolina went 23-31 from the free throw line against Florida. That 74.2% effort isn't anything special. In fact, it's remarkably average. However, how the Gamecocks got to that number was impressive.
First, the Gamecocks forced their way to the line for 31 attempts, 21 of them coming in the 2nd half. USC didn't get the usual production from the line from their good free throw shooters as Meechie Johnson and Jacobi Wrigth combined to go 5-10. However, the rest of the Gamecocks went 18-21 as Zach Davis knocked down 6-6, Collin Murray-Boyles made 9-10, and Josh Gray converted on 3-5, a good number for the big fella.
On defense, though fouls were prevalent, Carolina only allowed Florida to shoot 15 freebies.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Down 1: BJ Mack
BJ Mack had his worst game as a Gamecock on Saturday. The starting big man scored just 2 points and had 0 rebounds in 20 minutes. He was beaten to the basketball repeatedly on rebound attempts, he gave up multiple easy buckets on defense, and his effort and body language were not what the Coach Paris wanted to see.
Mack has been too good this season to expect that this will continue. The Gamecocks will need him to bounce back to have a chance to beat the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Down 2: 1st Half Rebounding
The Gamecocks were down by 6 at halftime, and that deficit was a direct product of bad rebounding. USC only had 15 boards compared to Florida's 23, and the 8 offensive rebounds resulted in 6 2nd-chance points.
No Gamecock other Collin Murray-Boyles had more than 1 rebound in the opening 20 minutes, and BJ Mack had 0. Florida, in contrast, had 7 players pull down multiple boards.
Had it not been for the tremendous 2nd half effort on the glass, the story from the game might have been the Gators' dominating the rebounding battle on their way to a win.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida Gators
Thumbs Down: At-Rim Finishing (Or Not Finishing)
The Gamecocks only got one dunk against Florida (a big one from Collin Murray-Boyles), but they attempted 18 layups in the contest. That's a pretty good number, especially when one considers there were plenty more instances in which they got into the lane before earning free throws after getting fouled.
However, Carolina made just 8 of those 18 shots at the rim. 4 of them were blocked, and 6 more were missed against clean defense. The Gamecocks will have to do better on their point-blank range shot attempts moving forward.