South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks' winning streak snapped in ugly loss to Auburn

South Carolina Basketball vs. Auburn Tigers
Stats, Scoring, and Observations

South Carolina basketball had their 7-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday in ugly fashion. In the worst game of the season for the Gamecocks, Auburn won by 41 points, 101-61.

Here are the stats from the game:

STATS

Auburn

Points

Leader: Jaylin Williams with 23

Rebounds

Leader: Chad Baker-Mazara with 5

Assists

Leader: Dylan Cardwell with 5

Steals

Leader: KD Johnson with 3

Blocks

Leader: Dylan Cardwell with 4

Other

The Tigers shot extremely efficiently the entire game, making 61% of their shots and 60% of their 3-pointers

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Meechie Johnson with 22

Rebounds

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles and Meechie Johnson each with 7

Assists

Leader: Meechie Johnson with 2

Steals

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles and Morris Ugusuk each with 2

Blocks

Leader: Josh Gray with 2

Other

The Gamecock offense had just 5 assists on 18 made shots

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Ta’Lon Cooper-Meechie Johnson-Zach Davis-BJ Mack-Collin Murray-Boyles
• Auburn did well on the offensive glass early, but the Gamecocks had good opportunities to grab several of those misses but couldn't secure the basketball.
• The Gamecocks started 3-0 from the field but then missed 10 of their next 13 shots. Auburn started 0-3 but then made 13 of 18.
• Auburn's defensive intensity and length created a ton of problems for the Carolina offense. Besides 3-point jump shots and Collin Murray-Boyles drives, the Gamecocks could generate nothing in the 1st half. The two best athletes on the floor for USC (Meechie Johnson and Collin Murray-Boyles) combined for 21 of the team's 28 points.
• The South Carolina defense didn't play well enough early, either. BJ Mack and Myles Stute looked lost on that side of the court a couple of times, and Auburn picked up 4 dunks and 2 wide-open layups in the opening 20 minutes. Bruce Pearl's team had three different 8-0 runs (one was 10-0) in the 1st half. They shot 63% from the field and 64% from the 3-point line.
• The 2nd half started better than the 1st ended, but even so, Auburn was able to recover and go back up by 20 at the 14:08 mark.
• Stephen Clark and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk got in during garbage time. A Clark free throw gave Carolina their only bench point of the game (1 point in 73 bench minutes).
• Auburn had four 8-0 runs (two of them 10-0).
• The Gamecocks never ran "their offense" other than the pick-and-pops to BJ Mack. Everything was reliant upon individual efforts from Meechie Johnson or Collin Murray-Boyles. In all, it was the worst offensive performance of the year.
• Carolina's defense was bad, too. They lost cutters, they left their hands down on 3-point shooters, and they didn't stay in front of their men on drives to the basket. They gave up their first two 50-point halves of the season.
• Auburn's frontcourt had their best shooting night of the season as Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams made 16-26 and 9-12 from 3-point land.
• Josh Gray struggled in this one. Ta'Lon Cooper was not himself. Zach Davis and Myles Stute were not good. Jacobi Wright wasn't comfortable. Morris Ugusuk wasn't ready for this matchup. BJ Mack was okay, and Meechie Johnson and Collin Murray-Boyles were the only two players with good games.