South Carolina men's basketball fell 78-59 to the No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers on Senior Night at Colonial Life Arena Tuesday.
After the game, head coach Lamont Paris shared his thoughts on the overall game.
“Obviously, Senior Night, obviously disappointed in how the game went, but a good group that we had of seniors this year,” Paris said.
Tennessee junior forward Jaylen Carey scored the first 4 points to give the Volunteers an early 4-0 lead.
South Carolina struggled to score coming into the game, missing its first four shots. Junior forward Elijah Strong hit a 3-pointer to end the scoring drought, making it 6-3.
Defensively, the Gamecocks continued to struggle as Tennessee went on a 5-0 run before Paris called a timeout.
Offense continued to sputter out of the timeout, and the Volunteers took a 9-point lead, the biggest of the night. Tennessee shot 58% from the field over the first seven minutes of the game.
A 3-pointer from senior forward Nordin Kapic and a free throw from redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson broke the scoring drought for the Gamecocks, cutting it to a 21-14 deficit.
South Carolina continued to struggle offensively, going on a four-minute scoring drought that allowed the deficit to increase to 11.
A layup from senior guard Mike Sharavjamts, the Gamecocks' first points in the paint, started a 7-2 run that cut it down to a 25-21 deficit.
Tennessee responded with an 8-0 run to bring its lead back into double digits with around five minutes left in the first half.
Similar to earlier in the first half, Kapic nailed another 3-pointer to snap the run from the Volunteers for a 33-24 deficit.
Over the last three minutes of the half, both teams exchanged baskets that ended with a 40-28 Tennessee lead. Tennessee senior forward Felix Okpara led the way with 10 points, shooting 71.4% from the field on seven shots.
Efficiency helped Tennessee hold a double-digit lead for most of the first half. The Volunteers finished the half shooting 54.8% from the field, compared to 31% from the field for the Gamecocks.
Neither team shot well from the 3-point line, but Tennessee thrived in the paint, outscoring the Gamecocks 30 to 8 for points in the paint.
The Gamecocks scored first out of the half as redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox hit a 3-pointer for a 40-31 deficit. Tennessee responded with a jumper from Okpara for its first points of the half.
Kapic continued to lead the way for South Carolina, hitting his third 3-pointer out of four attempts on the night. He and Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help outsource Tennessee 9-6 over the first four minutes of the second half, cutting the lead down to 46-40.
Johnson scored 4 straight points for the Gamecocks but was unable to cut into the lead more due to poor defense from South Carolina, including a poster dunk by redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella.
Nine minutes into the second half, Tennessee held a 56-44 lead. Despite the 12-point lead, both teams scored 16 points up to this point, and South Carolina was shooting over 50% from the field and beyond the arc.
The lead increased to 15 points as Tennessee went on a short 4-0 run after points from sophomore guard Bishop Boswell and Estrella.
The Volunteers slowly pulled away and increased the lead to 72-52. A layup from Estrella put the game out of reach with four minutes left.
Few points were scored in the closing four minutes of the game as South Carolina substituted its starters out around the last minute. The lineup, containing players such as Kapic, Johnson and Knox, received a standing ovation for Senior Night.
No. 23 Tennessee went on to secure the 78-59 victory to spoil Senior Night for the Gamecocks.
Johnson scored 20 points as the Gamecocks' leading scorer, and Estrella led the Volunteers with 22 points. Estrella and Okpara combined for over half of Tennessee’s points with 42 points.
What's next?
South Carolina will travel to play Ole Miss in its last regular season game of the season on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.