South Carolina basketball set a new all-time Gamecock record on Saturday. With their 25th win of the season, Lamont Paris' team broke the program record for regular season wins, breaking a tie with the 1969-1970 and 2015-2016 teams. Unlike those two teams, however, the 2023-2024 South Carolina basketball squad will play in the NCAA Tournament.
The game against Mississippi State on Saturday was a tight one. The Gamecocks led by as many as 9 points in the 1st half, but the Bulldogs kept fighting, and most of the game saw either team leading by just one or two possessions.
BJ Mack had a bounce-back performance as a scorer. After averaging just 5 points and 1 rebound per game over the past three games, he exploded for 25 points on just 11 shots from the field to lead the team in scoring. He also made a couple of clutch buckets and free throws down the stretch.
Collin Murray-Boyles was excellent, Zach Davis, Josh Gray, and Ta'Lon Cooper had some really nice moments, and Meechie Johnson was much more impactful than his stat line would indicate.
The Gamecocks also showed they could win a game in which they were forced to play a different style than their preferred game with a slow-paced offense. In a much more up-and-down type of game, Carolina maintained relatively strong efficiency on offense, and the defense played pretty well as State scored 15 2nd chance points with their rebounding advantage and several more on very difficult shots from Josh Hubbard.
In all, it was a very good win on the road for the Gamecocks as they bookended the SEC season with victories over the Bulldogs. Now, they get a chance to roll into Nashville with some momentum for the SEC Tournament.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Thumbs Up 1: Return of the Mack
BJ had three games of struggles leading up to Saturday, but the big fella didn't struggle against Mississippi State.
On just 11 shots from the field, BJ Mack scored 25 points. He went 8-11 (2-5) and added 7 free throws on 8 tries. Mack also made some clutch buckets (and free throws) down the stretch of regulation and overtime.
Just about every second of the game had either Josh Gray or BJ Mack on the floor, and Gray's defense partnered well with Mack's offense in Saturday's record-setting victory.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Thumbs Up 2: Collin Murray-Boyles
BJ Mack wasn't the only frontcourt player who dominated for the Gamecocks against State. Freshman Collin Murray-Boyles was the best overall player on the floor.
In addition to playing really solid defense against All-SEC talent Tolu Smith, CMB added 19 points on 9-10 shooting, dished out 6 assists, and pulled down 8 rebounds. He had 2 huge blocks and 4 steals as he led the Gamecocks in 4 of the 5 major statistical categories (rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals).
Murray-Boyles was called for a couple of lame fouls, but the athletic youngster was able to play well even while dealing with foul trouble.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Thumbs Up 3: Free Throws
The Gamecocks have not been a team that consistently gets to the free throw line and knocks down those shots (last in the league in attempts, 10th in percentage). That changed against Mississippi State.
Though going to overtime helped, Carolina shot 24 free throws, making 20 of them. That's good for 83.3% on the freebies, and USC needed all of them to knock off the Bulldogs.
Three different Gamecocks shot at least 6 free throws as BJ Mack, Meechie Johnson, and Zach Davis combined to make 16 shots from the stripe.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Thumbs Down 1: Rebounding
The Gamecocks outrebounded Mississippi State in their first meeting at the beginning on the SEC season, but that did not happen again on Saturday.
MSU pulled down 7 more rebounds than South Carolina did, and the Bulldogs' starting three front court players combined for 29 boards. That was more than double the total the Gamecocks' starters got (Zach Davis, BJ Mack, and Collin Murray-Boyles combined for 14 rebounds, with CMB getting 8 of them).
The Gamecocks allowed the Bulldogs to get 16 offensive rebounds and 15 2nd chance points. Those numbers will need to improve before the NCAA Tournament, or else USC won't play very long into March.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State
Thumbs Down 2: Bench Struggles
Lamont Paris didn't get as much as he hoped to get out of his bench against Mississippi State. Josh Gray had a pretty good showing on defense, and Myles Stute knocked down two 3-pointers, but after that, the bench was not very impactful.
For the game, the Carolina bench scored just 13 points. The reserves shot 4-15 from the field and committed half of the team's turnovers despite playing significantly fewer minutes than the starters.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Mississippi State
Thumbs Down 3: Fouls
The Gamecocks got to the line for 24 foul shots, but they allowed MSU to shoot 25 of them.
Some of the team's 20 fouls were at the worst time, as well. Jacobi Wright and Ta'Lon Cooper converged on Dashawn Davis for a foul at the end of regulation, allowing the guard to tie the score with two free throws just before time expired. Then, at the end of overtime, Zach Davis fouled Josh Hubbard on a 3-pointer. Had he made all three shots instead of just two, the game likely would have gone to a 2nd overtime.
Carolina will need to keep their hands to themselves in the SEC Tournament if they have plans to win in Nashville.