Gamecocks fall 73-64 to UT after shooting just 32.4 percent
South Carolina continued its season-long slide on Saturday with a 73-64 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers.
The loss puts USC at 10-18, 2-12 in SEC play and is just another chapter in the long and disappointing season that’s left many, including coach Darrin Horn, frustrated.
“We did not get off to a good start tonight,” said Horn, who’s career record at South Carolina dropped to 60-60 overall with the loss. “We just turned the ball over and gave them too many easy baskets. Every time it seemed like we were chipping away or getting close, they hit a timely shot or got something at the end of the break. It didn’t help us any that Damontre Harris only played 11 minutes (due to foul trouble) and really didn’t produce anything.”
Carolina struggled from the field all night long shooting just 22-68 or 32.4 percent for the night. However, they managed to keep things close thanks to 16 offensive boards and 23 points off 21 turnovers, accounting for more than half of the teams points.
“I thought we did a really good job of picking up our defensive pressure and intensity and extending it,” Horn said. “However, we needed a collective performance tonight and we didn’t get it.”
On the other side of the ball, South Carolina gave up too many good looks to Tennessee (16-13, 8-6 SEC), evident by the 52.2 percentage they shot from the field.
Sophomore Trae Golden led the Volunteers with 21 points on 5-9 shooting, including 8-9 from the free throw line. As a team, Tennessee shot 50 percent (7-14) from behind the arc.
The high percentage from the field masked the 21 turnovers and 16 offensive rebounds given up by UT and despite the turnovers head coach Cuonzo Martin was impressed by both his team and the fans that showed up to support the Vols.
“I thought [the fans] did a tremendous job supporting us,” Martin said. “It gave us great energy and gave our guys enthusiasm. It was great for us and our program. That was one of the few games I’ve ever been around where we’ve had 20-plus turnovers and I thought we played well.”
Poor starts to both halves played a major factor for USC in the loss, as Tennessee raced off to a 18-9 lead to start the game, and after the Gamecocks had cut the deficit to two at halftime the Vols scored 10 of the first 12 points after halftime. Carolina did not record its first rebound until nearly five minutes had gone by in the game and the Gamecocks never led.
“We came into the game wanting to be aggressive and more of an attacking team on both ends of the floor,” Horn said. “We just didn’t complete the things we needed to get over the hump and we got down early in the second half.”
In addition to the forced turnovers and offensive rebounds, the Gamecocks also were able to limit Skylar McBee, the junior who lit up USC last month in Knoxville for a career-high 18 points. McBee, who sports an impressive handlebar mustache, scored just eight points on 2-5 shooting.
However, at the end of the night, it was another too-little-too-late effort from Carolina that resulted in another addition to the loss column. For the remaining two regular season games and SEC tournament, Horn will be looking to his players to turn the corner and end the season on a positive note.
“Guys have to make plays,” Horn said. “They have to finish shots, It’s really that simple.”