South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from Ole Miss victory

South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 1: Settling on Offense

The Gamecocks started really hot with 7-13 shooting on 3-pointers. The hot start hurt the team's shot selection the rest of the way, however, as they settled for quick outside attempts or unnecessarily deep shots for stretches. When those shots stopped falling in the 2nd half, Ole Miss came back.

In the final 20 minutes, Carolina shot 32.3% from the field and 15.4% from behind the 3-point line. Much of that had to do with settling on offense.

South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 2: Free Throws

The Gamecocks shot 3-7 from the free throw line for the game. That's not good enough.

Carolina should be taking much more than just 7 shots from the foul line each game, especially with players like Collin Murray-Boyles, BJ Mack, Josh Gray, and Meechie Johnson who all are capable of drawing a lot of contact in the paint.

The 43% efficiency from the stripe, obviously, is horrible, but that number would rise (theoretically) with more attempts. The Gamecocks' reliance on taking outside shots in this game contributed to the lack of free throws. If Carolina an fix the shot selection issue, they should get to the line more often, as well.

South Carolina Basketball vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Thumbs Down 3: Top Scorers Not Scoring

BJ Mack and Meechie Johnson are the two leading scorers on this team. However, neither player scored much against Ole Miss, combining for just 12 points on 4-18 shooting.

Mack had a tough game all around, but Johnson managed to be effective in other ways, pulling down 5 rebounds from his guard positions and, more importantly, dishing out 8 assists.

Lamont Paris will need these two players to be better on offense as 68 points won't be enough to win every game on the schedule.