The USC Gamecocks basketball team (14-15, 5-10) dropped its sixth straight game and fell to below .500 with a 79-70 loss to the University of Alabama Crimson Tide (15-14, 5-10) on what was South Carolina’s “Senior Night.”
USC jumped out to a strong 14-point lead and most, including me, felt a win was going to occur. I mean their best player – JayMychal Green – was absent. The Gamecocks came out hot, showing everything that coach Darrin Horn demanded of them when he publicly criticized their effort on Tuesday after a lackluster performance in a loss to Mississippi State. Which if you recall was poor to say the least so it was refreshing to see the fighting gamecocks live up to that notion to begin this game.
However, the enjoyment of watching the gamecocks’ intensity to start soon faded like the chances of winning. The Crimson Tide’s complete domination on the glass, where they out-rebounded the Gamecocks by an astounding 49-26 margin, proved to be too much. Not sure what happened to Muldrow or Jackson on the glass but they sucked. I just don’t understand why our guys can not box out and get a board. ‘Bama’s crashing the boards hurt Carolina as the game wore on as it gave them plenty of easy second chance points as they mounted a comeback.
Another aspect that Bama found success was from beyond the arc, hitting seven-of-17 shots for 41.2 percent from downtown, which allowed them to stay within striking distance. The last key to this win for ‘Bama was the charity strip. Alabama got to the line, going 18-of-27 for the game and eight-of-11 down the stretch. USC, on the other hand, didn’t take a single free throw in the closing minutes and was a dismal eight-of-17 for the game.
Do you see the theme? It has been the same during this losing streak. USC is not rebounding well, not getting to the free throw line enough and not hitting three pointers. Same story and same result.
There were some bright spots for USC. Galloway had a career-high 21 points. Downey led all scorers with 23 points, and passed Chuck Eidson for the all-time USC steals record. Still, the final result was a loss on senior night and the 6th straight.
