South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks lose frustrating game marred by officiating, poor free throw shooting

South Carolina Basketball vs. Georgia Bulldogs
Stats, Scoring, and Observations

South Carolina basketball followed up their win over the Missouri Tigers with a home stinker against the Georgia Bulldogs. In a game marred by poor officiating and worse free throw shooting by the Gamecocks, USC fell 74-69.

Here are the stats from the game:

STATS

Georgia

Points

Leader: Silas Demary with 15

Rebounds

Leader: Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 8

Assists

Leader: Justin Hill with 5

Steals

Leader: Three players each with 2

Blocks

Leader: Three players each with 2

Other

The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle by 9 and made 8 more free throws on the same number of attempts

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Meechie Johnson with 19

Rebounds

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles and Ta'Lon Cooper each with 6

Assists

Leader: Ta'Lon Cooper and Zach Davis each with 3

Steals

Leader: Meechie Johnson and Ta'Lon Cooper each with 1

Blocks

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles with 4

Other

The Gamecocks had a near 10-minute stretch without a field goal; USC shot a pathetic percentage from the free throw line (53%), including 4-15 from Collin Murray-Boyles (4-10) and Josh Gray (0-5)

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Ta’Lon Cooper-Meechie Johnson-Myles Stute-BJ Mack-Collin Murray-Boyles
• Georgia's plan early was clear: get in the paint and try to get the Gamecocks in foul trouble. It worked as referee Pat Adams was part of an officiating crew that called USC for 7 fouls early. None of them, though, came in the final 4 minutes of the 1st half. The fouls increased in the 2nd half as both teams were in the bonus by the under-12 media timeout.
• Collin Murray-Boyles left the game with an injury around the first media timeout; he appeared to be fine, however, as he returned just a few minutes later.
• Josh Gray came in for BJ Mack (who was struggling on defense) and got two blocks immediately. Then, he dropped a pass that would have resulted in an easy dunk.
• The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards early (11-5 at one point), but an uncharacteristically high block total kept the Gamecocks in the game. The rebounding numbers evened out by halftime as the teams were tied 19-19 on the glass.
• Georgia also made a lot of shots that fell through the hoop after very friendly bounces and rolls around the rim.
• UGA got off 8 more shots than USC in the 1st half. The 5-turnover advantage and 3-offensive rebound lead were the primary reasons why.
• Zach Davis left the game in 2nd half with an injury that may have been a cramp. He returned near the mid-point of the 2nd half.
• A dirty play (hook and hold) from RJ Melendez left Myles Stute with a hurt shoulder about halfway through the 2nd half. Stute went straight to the locker room after the flagrant-1 foul.
• Awful free throw shooting from Carolina (mainly from Josh Gray and Collin Murray-Boyles) cost the Gamecocks the victory.
• Collin Murray-Boyles got some run at the 5-spot for the Gamecocks when big Russell Tshebwe wasn't in the game.
• The 2nd half rebounding battle was dominated by Georgia. That, the bad shooting stretch in the middle of the 2nd half, and the Gamecocks' horrible free throw shooting led to the loss. If any of those three elements shifted in favor of USC, Carolina would have picked up the victory.
• BJ Mack was horrible all night on defense