South Carolina Basketball vs. Texas A&M Aggies
Thumbs Down 1: Fouls
To be fair, some of the calls in this game were a little questionable, but the Gamecocks fouled too much on Sunday afternoon. With 21 team fouls for the game, USC sent the physically overmatched Aggies to the free throw line 21 times. They also gave the ball away a few times with offensive fouls.
Ashlyn Watkins fouled out, and Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson, and Sania Feagin all had at least 3 calls against them. There was also a technical foul assessed to the Gamecocks that seemed to come from the scorer's table. None of that particularly mattered in a game in which Carolina scored an easy 99 points, but Coach Staley will want it cleaned up before Thursday's battle with LSU.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Texas A&M Aggies
Thumbs Down 2: Early Turnovers
The Gamecocks have struggled with turnovers this season. Sunday's game was far from their worst ball security day on the season, but a stretch in the 1st quarter was particularly bad. 5 turnovers in 6 minutes saw the Gamecocks miss an opportunity to step on the Aggies' throats early. They scored all 8 of their 1st quarter points off of USC giveaways, and they scored 17 freebies in the game.
The issue was cleaned up by the 2nd half (just 1 turnover in the 3rd quarter), but the turnover trend will need to take a hiatus if the Gamecocks want to keep the advantage against the best teams on their schedule.
South Carolina Basketball vs. Texas A&M Aggies
Thumbs Down 3: Shallow Bench
Those who have watched South Carolina basketball this year know that the Gamecocks have some extremely talented players coming off the bench. MiLaysia Fulwiley, Ashlyn Watkins, and Tessa Johnson have been valuable contributors the entire year, and Sania Feagin has had some nice moments. After that, though, the Gamecocks have question marks.
Operating well under the legal scholarship limit, the Gamecocks could be getting even shallower with Tessa Johnson's injury. Sahnya Jah isn't ready for big minutes (2 fouls, 2 turnovers, and 1 point in 11 minutes on Sunday), and Sakima Walker hasn't played much outside of garbage time this season. The A&M game was a good opportunity to get the bench some playing time, but seeing Jah and Walker on the court for a combined 16 minutes showed how far behind they are of the rest of the roster right now.