South Carolina men’s basketball failed to hold its halftime lead on the way to a 69-60 loss to Davidson Friday night in its second game of the Charleston Classic.
Davidson’s ability to hit the 3-point shots in the second half changed the trajectory of the game. In the first half, Davidson made just three of their 10 shots from beyond the arc. But in the second half, the Wildcats converted on six of their 15 attempts, allowing them to jump into the lead.
Wildcat senior guard Foster Loyer hit four of those six 3-pointers and scored 16 points in the second half, a huge turnaround from his quiet first half where he had just 2 points.
“I knew he was going to be really aggressive,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said. “They ran a bunch of stuff to him. He took a lot of shots, and he made some of them. We were working hard to chase him around.”
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks struggled on offense.
“We turned the ball over a lot, still, and we didn’t perform well offensively. We had some guys with some rough shooting days,” Paris said. “We have to get better, there is no question about it. This is not a finished product.”
The team shot 39% for the game and had 16 turnovers. Unlike the Wildcats, South Carolina’s 3-point shooting got worse after the break. The Gamecocks started the game making four of their 11 shots from deep, but they slowed to hit just two in the second half.
The absence of junior guard Meechie Johnson hurt the team. The transfer from Ohio State had started the Gamecocks' opening three games but missed the game due to a nagging ankle injury.
“Meechie did not feel like he could go today,” Paris said. “Today was his ankle again, ... so we were short manned, and some guys had to play some really extended minutes that they haven’t had to play and carry a load, and so I think that may have actually factored into some of our shooting.”
There were a few bright spots for the Gamecocks in the game. Senior guard Chico Carter Jr. bounced back from his struggles in Thursday’s loss against Colorado State, where he shot just 22% from the field. This time out he scored 26 points with four rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes of action.
Freshman forward GG Jackson fell one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine boards. He and sophomore guard Jacobi Wright played all but two minutes.
Still, the team did not have enough to slow Davidson's shooting down, so they could not keep up.
The loss moves South Carolina to 2-2 on the year. However, the team is 0-2 in the Charleston Classic tournament.
The Gamecocks will have a chance to leave Charleston with a win when they meet Furman, who is also winless in the tournament. Tip-off between the two South Carolina schools will be at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and can be viewed on ESPNEWS.