Despite a career night from redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson, who set a personal record with 35 points, South Carolina men’s basketball was unable to find a win on the road against Texas, falling 84-75.
Johnson got off to a solid start, with 11 points in the game’s opening 13 minutes, as the Gamecocks held an early advantage over the Longhorns.
Though South Carolina ultimately ended the first half trailing 35-31, Johnson’s performance remained strong. The Ohio State transfer went into the break with 15 points, nearly half of his team’s first-half total.
Johnson’s 20 second-half points weren’t enough to prevent South Carolina from losing its fourth consecutive matchup, but his late field goal did set a career high with 35 points in the game.
"Meechie did a good job of getting his body into defenders," head coach Lamont Paris said. "He was patient around the basket, made a couple of really strong finishes."
The Gamecocks struggled to find offensive production outside of Johnson. Junior forward Elijah Strong had 12 points on the night, while nobody else on South Carolina finished with more than 8.
Furthermore, South Carolina had very little success from behind the 3-point arc. The Gamecocks only managed two 3-pointers, one each from Johnson and freshman guard Eli Ellis, on 11 attempts from the whole team. On the other side, Texas hit seven 3-pointers, including three from junior forward Camden Heide.
While South Carolina was successful in the paint, shooting 50% from the field, its lack of ability behind the line limited its offensive capability, leaving ample opportunity for Texas to erase an early deficit.
Another area where South Carolina was outplayed by its opponent was rebounding. Texas managed 40 total rebounds to the Gamecocks’ 25, including 17 offensive rebounds to South Carolina’s six.
The Longhorns were able to capitalize on their second-chance opportunities, scoring 20 points off 17 rebounds. In a 9-point game, Texas’ offensive rebounding played a pivotal role in securing a crucial home win as the Longhorns look to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament in March.
On the other side, a number of worrying trends continued for South Carolina in its loss.
The Gamecocks continue to drop conference games. Each of South Carolina’s four consecutive defeats have come at the hands of SEC opponents, and its record in conference play now stands at 2-8. Only Oklahoma, which the Gamecocks defeated on Jan. 20, has a worse mark.
Additionally, South Carolina remains winless in contests it trailed in at half time this season. The loss to Texas now means the Gamecocks are 0-11 on the year in this scenario, which might speak to the team’s ability to win close games. South Carolina is also 0-6 in games decided by 5 points or fewer, though Texas’ late flurry leaves that record unchanged.
"Our first responsibility was to do enough right things that when it got to game-winning time that you were right there to win the game," Paris said. "Then you have to make some game-winning decisions ... We're still getting better at those decisions."
South Carolina hopes its conference woes end when it hosts Missouri Saturday at 1 p.m. The Gamecocks will likely need to find more offensive output beyond Johnson against the Tigers, who have a respectable 5-4 record in conference play, including a win over reigning national champions and No. 17 Florida.