Best phrase to describe this is “lost opportunity.”
The Gamecocks got out to a ten point lead and then for some reason seemed to ease up a bit. The ‘dawgs fought back and showed their bite down the stretch. Carolina just could not muster up enough to fend off the attack and ended up losing the game by five – 66-61.
Entering this game, it was safe to say it was a “must win” for USC as their chances for NCAA play were already a long shot. Now I think it is time for you to tell yourself that the NIT is not that bad. Carolina will need to basically win out the remaining games in my view and I love my Gamecocks but I just don’t see it happening.
Overall, the team played decent today with 3 players in double figures scoring but it was not good enough. The one stat that screams at me is 9-32 from behind the arc. That is right 32 shots from behind the arc; that is a lost of bricks. No wonder USC’s F/C Sam Muldrow only had 4 points to lead the SC big men as the guards were the one’s with the quick trigger.
Another thing that did not help the Gamecocks today was that Devan Downey had his worst SEC game this year. He finished with 18 points on 6-22 shooting and only got to the line twice today. As we learned this year in other losses, when Devan is off the team loses and we saw that today.
Credit Georgia with good defense on Devan and getting the rebounds from all those Gamecocks’ misses. Also a big reason UGa won was their shooting from the free throw line – 20-23.
This was a bad loss for Carolina, who fall to 14-10 for the year and 5-5 in SEC play. They had this game in their hands but let it slip. And with that their NCAA dream.
USC must improve on some of the fundamentals like boxing out and involving the post players more before they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Feb. 17th in their arena.
Today’s Top Performers
South Carolina: B. Raley-Ross 18 Pts, 7 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl
Georgia: T. Thompkins 21 Pts, 10 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Blk
