A slow start for South Carolina and a dominant Alabama offense helped surge the Crimson Tide ahead in the first half, allowing it to maintain the lead for the duration of the game despite a competitive second half.
Alabama leads the all-time series 37-16. The Crimson Tide has now won the past 11 games, and the last time the Gamecocks beat the Crimson Tide was in 2016.
While both teams began the game on a competitive note, tying at 13-13 and once more at 23-23 after four lead changes, the Crimson Tide ultimately surged forward, going on a 7-0 run and racking up 3-pointers.
Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox and senior guard Mike Sharavjamts led the team in points scored during the first half, scoring 21 combined points. As for the rest of the starting five, junior forward Elijah Strong had 4 points, graduate guard Myles Stute had 3 points, and redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson only had 2 points.
Alabama capitalized from Johnson's slow start, who remains South Carolina’s leading scorer with an average of 16.7 points per game. Four players scored two or more 3-pointers, the Crimson Tide put up nine 3-pointers, over half of its total points scored during the first half.
By the end of the first half, Alabama had a comfortable 13-point lead at 45-32.
While the Crimson Tide only made five 3-pointers during the second half, they outscored the Gamecocks in terms of total 3-pointers scored. Alabama scored 14 3-pointers compared to only seven 3-pointers from South Carolina.
Alabama’s bench also shone during the game, scoring 29 points compared to only 7 points from South Carolina’s bench.
On the other hand, South Carolina found itself struggling in terms of fouls. Towards the end of the game, the Gamecocks were in a bit of trouble, as Knox eventually fouled out, and both Sharavjamts and freshman forward EJ Walker had four fouls.
The Gamecocks also struggled in terms of rebounds. Alabama had 43 total rebounds, while South Carolina had 29 total rebounds. Whether or not that came to help Alabama in terms of second-chance points was not apparent. Both teams were fairly even in that department, despite Alabama having four more turnovers than South Carolina.
However, South Carolina managed to gain an advantage in terms of free throws. In fact, the Gamecocks only continued their dominance at the line, making 16-18, an 88.9% success rate. The Gamecocks currently rank first in the SEC for team free throw percentage at .790.
With its 10th conference loss under its belt, South Carolina will now look towards playing against the Florida Gators. The Gamecocks lost to the Gators 95-48 on Jan. 28. Florida, which is on a 5-game winning streak, is looking toward its 11th conference win. South Carolina will need to come out aggressively, utilizing both its starting five players and its bench depth to keep up with the fast-paced offense of the Gators.