South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris and his team officially have surpassed last season's win total. The disastrous 11-21 record from the 2022-2023 season seems like a distant memory now that the Gamecocks are 12-1 heading into SEC play.
In a game that was full of runs, the Gamecocks had more runs and the biggest one (a whopping 20-0 stretch in the 1st half), and South Carolina basketball cruised to a 32-point home victory.
For the first time in his career (and likely not the last), true freshman Collin Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks in scoring. Off the bench, CMB dropped 17 points, including 9 in a row at one point, despite playing just 14 minutes.
Myles Stute and Morris Ugusuk chipped in with 16 and 11, respectively, on a combined 7-14 3-point shooting effort. Meechie Johnson (11) and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (10) also scored in double-figures.
As a team, Carolina assisted on 21 of their 30 makes (Johnson, Ta'Lon Cooper, and Stephen Clark combined for 14 of those), and they won the rebounding battle by 14 boards.
Even the long-standing inconsistencies at the free throw line (something that goes back for years in Columbia) was a strength against the Rattlers. South Carolina shot 24-28 from the charity stripe while only committing 9 fouls against FAMU.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Up 1: The Bench
The Gamecocks were good on offense against FAMU (despite not shooting elite percentages), and a case can be made that the bench unit did the Gamecocks' best work on that end of the floor. 52 of the team's 94 points came from reserves, led by Collin Murray-Boyles' 17, Morris Ugusuk's 11, and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk's 10.
Those three double-digit scores and Zach Davis (9 points) combined to shoot 16-22 from the field, 4-7 from behind the arc, and 11-13 from the free throw line.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Up 2: Explosive CMB
Collin Murray-Boyles was a top-100 prospect in the class of 2023, and South Carolina basketball fans were excited to see what he could do for their team when the season started in November. However, in the days leading up to the opening tip, it was announced that CMB was going to have an extended absence due to mononucleosis.
When he returned in early December, he did not look like the same type of athlete he was on his high school film. Now, a little further out from his recovery and his weight gain (he lost almost 20 pounds while sick), Murray-Boyles finally looked explosive and confident against Florida A&M. Believed to be in line for a starting position prior to the season and his illness, if he continues to play like this (17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals on 5-6 shooting in 14 minutes), he might push his way back into the starting discussion.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Up 3: Ball Movement
The Gamecocks have their first true point guard in years on the roster this season in veterna transfer Ta'Lon Cooper. Cooper is one of the country's best assist-to-turnover ratio players, and his play style has rubbed off on his teammates.
Extra passes, turning down good shots in order to find teammates for great shots, and playing securely with the basketball have become trademarks of this year's Gamecock squad. On Saturday, that manifested itself with 21 assists on 30 made baskets. Timely swings around the perimeter, post entry feeds, and dribble-drive kick-outs were all on the menu against Florida A&M as the Gamecocks had, arguably, their best ball movement day of the season.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Down 1: Inefficient Lead Guards
The Gamecocks top-3 true guards (not wings) are Meechie Johnson, Ta'Lon Cooper, and Jacobi Wright. On Saturday, all three of these players were very inefficient as scorers. Johnson shot 3-12 (1-5), Cooper went 0-4 (0-2), and Wright continued his poor shooting stretch with a 1-8 (0-5) performance.
The Gamecocks cannot get that type of production from those three players and expect to win when SEC play starts next week. Thankfully for the Gamecocks this weekend, the fourth guard Morris Ugusuk and wings Myles Stute and Zach Davis had really nice games to help pick up the slack.
Johnson, Cooper, and Wright still managed to impact despite their struggles as they combined for 12 assists and made 9-11 free throw attempts.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Down 2: What's Going on with Josh Gray?
Josh Gray didn't play against Florida A&M. At 7'0" tall, Gray is the biggest post presence that the Gamecocks have, and he is the only player on the roster who can be a dominant rebounder and shot blocker against any matchup.
However, he has really struggled this season and has seen his playing time dwindle. From being the first big off the bench early in the season, he has fallen completely out of the rotation in some games and didn't see the court on Saturday. That is going to have to change in SEC play for the Gamecocks to be the best version of themselves. Teams that get outrebounded and who can't stop anyone in the paint can't win at a high level, and a good Josh Gray is USC's biggest (literally) chance of making sure that they compete down low when the athletes get bigger, stronger, longer, and tougher.
Earlier this week, South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris talked about how Stephen Clark and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk have been better that Gray recently in games and practice, so it appears getting more playing time for Josh Gray is going to be up to #33.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Florida A&M
Thumbs Down 3: Jump Shot Close Outs
This thumbs down is a bit nitpicky (hey, they won by 32), but the Gamecocks weren't great closing out to shooters. Florida A&M, a low-volume and low-efficiency shooting team went 7-13 from behind the arc on Saturday. The Carolina defense allowed too many open looks to the Rattlers, and they did a great job of knocking down those looks.
Less-than-ideal perimeter defense will get the Gamecocks torched against teams like Alabama, Kentucky, and Auburn in SEC play, so this is something that Coach Paris and company will look to tighten up as January begins.