After a slow start for South Carolina's men's basketball team caused by foul trouble and a dominant Auburn offensive front, the Gamecocks lost their third straight conference game, losing to the Tigers 71-67 on Saturday night.
Marking their 53rd meeting of all time, this game is also the Gamecocks' 10th straight loss to the Tigers, with their last win coming in January 2019. Auburn now leads the series overall 34-19.
Despite the Gamecocks scoring the first points of the game, Auburn came out aggressive from the start. With only two made 3-pointers and 8 points in the paint, South Carolina put 24 points on the board during the first half.
Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson and junior forward Elijah Strong led the team with 7 points apiece by halftime. Johnson ended the game with 17 points, leading the Gamecocks in this category.
The Gamecocks were able to limit the point production from Auburn sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford and senior forward Keyshawn Hall. The Tiger duo were held to 17 combined points throughout the course of the game, despite averaging 13.7 and 20.2 points per game respectively.
Auburn freshman forward Filip Jović led the team in points scored with a career high 23 points.
South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris acknowledged that while effort was made on the defensive end for South Carolina to slow Pettiford and Hall down, Jović, who averages 7.1 points per game, took advantage and found an opportunity to step up.
“His impact was obvious," Paris said. "It was almost as if you exerted so much energy and getting the two main culprits slowed down that then someone had to do something, and he seized his opportunity."
Jović and the Auburn's offense maintained the lead for most of the game. Trailing only one minute and 46 seconds during the beginning of the first half, the Gamecocks were able to shine through in some areas.
While the Gamecocks made only two 3-pointers in the first half, they made six 3-pointers during the second half, shooting a 32% overall 3-point field goal rate compared to Auburn’s 10.5%.
And while the Gamecocks only scored seven of 28 attempted field goals, a 25% rate, during the first half, they shot better in the second half with a 53.3% field goal rate, going 16 for 30.
The Tigers were able to draw nine fouls on the Gamecocks, with nine out of their 30 first-half points coming from the free throw line. Seven Gamecock turnovers in the first half also resulted in 6 points for Auburn.
Auburn continued its dominance on both sides of the ball coming out of the half. It drew 12 more Gamecock fouls in the second half. All but two Gamecocks who saw action picked up one or more fouls. Johnson, Strong and freshman forward EJ Walker ended the game with four fouls, while graduate guard Myles Stute and senior guard Mike Sharavjamts finished with three fouls. Overall, the Tigers made 23 out of 30 total free throws, a 76.7% rate.
Auburn dominated the paint the majority of the game, scoring 42 total points, compared to South Carolina’s 26. Ten of those points for Auburn came off five dunks, three of which came consecutively during the later part of the second half.
“We just didn’t have as much success driving and finishing around the basket and creating some shots off the three," Paris said. "Posting up — that was the other thing that I would have liked to have done a little bit more.”
Auburn also stepped up defensively, as well, with 10 steals and eight blocks, while South Carolina only managed four blocks and five steals with 15 turnovers.