South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from demolition of North Carolina Tar Heels

South Carolina Basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Thumbs Down 1: Bringing the Ball Low in the Paint

In a 47-point obliteration of a rival in the NCAA Tournament, "thumbs down" is a relative term. However, an area of the Gamecocks' performance that should improve moving forward came in the way they were blocked so frequently.

USC had 7 of their shots swatted in this one, and the majority of them were avoidable. Players brought the ball low while in the post instead of keeping it high. Bringing the ball down low unnecessarily gives opponents an extra opportunity to block a shot in the paint, and the Gamecocks fell victim to this bad habit a few times on Sunday.

South Carolina Basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Thumbs Down 2: Sloppy Turnovers

The Gamecocks didn't have a terrible turnover number against North Carolina as they gave the ball away 13 times. However, several of the turnovers were strictly a result of sloppy play.

Carolina had a few lazy passes that wound up going out of bounds or right to a North Carolina defender, they dribbled into traffic unnecessarily on several occasions, and there was a pretty dumb moving screen violation that resulted in a change of possession, as well.

Again, it wasn't a major issue, but some of the turnovers were easily avoidable and should be viewed as a negative as they led to 14 of North Carolina's 41 points in the game.

South Carolina Basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Thumbs Down 3: 3rd Quarter Offense

Believe it or not, the Gamecocks were outscored in one of the four quarters against North Carolina. UNC put up 15 points compared to USC's 14 in the 3rd quarter.

Frankly, the offensive play in that period was not good from the top-seeded Gamecocks. They missed their first 7 shots from the field and had it not been for 5 late points from a solo effort by MiLaysia Fulwiley, they would have scored just 9 points in the period.

Ultimately, it didn't matter at all, and it was obvious that South Carolina had taken their foot off the gas after halftime. However, a quarter in which the Gamecocks went 4-13 from the field wasn't their finest moment.