The South Carolina men’s basketball team fell to 0-8 in the SEC, extending its worst start to conference play in program history after Tuesday’s 71-60 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.
Unlike South Carolina’s recent one-possession games and overtime loss, the Gamecocks never led the Bulldogs, who opened the game on a 14-3 run.
The Gamecocks trailed early, scoring only 3 points in the first six and a half minutes of the game and giving up six turnovers during that same period of time. The team struggled to find offensive momentum from the start, shooting 6-22 from the field during the opening half.
Georgia’s largest lead of the half extended to 15 points. Despite aggressive plays from sophomore forward Colin Murray-Boyles, who finished the game with 18 points, the Gamecocks lacked momentum and entered the halftime break trailing 35-21.
The Gamecocks fought back in the second half going 3-5 from the field in the opening minutes of the second half to give the team some life.
South Carolina was able to bring the Bulldogs lead to single digits in the game's closing moments with a Murray-Boyles dunk with just over a minute remaining to bring the Georgia lead to 9 and a layup from senior guard Jamarii Thomas, who finished the game with a team high 19 points, to bring the lead back down to 9 points after Georgia senior guard Dakota Leffew pushed it back to 11.
Ultimately, the Gamecocks could not catch up despite outscoring Georgia 39-36 in the second half.
"We gotta get our groove back," head coach Lamont Paris said.
Offensive struggles
The Gamecocks shot 6-22 from the field during the first half, scoring only 27.3% of its attempted baskets. The Bulldogs were more efficient scoring 43.3% of attempted field goals. From behind the arc, the Gamecocks went 1-7 in comparison to the Bulldogs 4-9.
In the second half the Gamecocks improved its offense scoring 15-29 for a 51.7% field goal completion, but the Bulldogs still proved a more efficient offense going 13-21 for a 61.9% completion.
The Gamecocks' five offensive rebounds in the second half outnumbered the Bulldogs' two, but the score gap of the first half proved too much for the Gamecocks to overcome.
Despite the Gamecocks outscoring the Bulldogs in the second half, the Bulldogs tied its largest lead of the game with four minutes left on the clock.
Turnovers plague the Gamecocks
South Carolina struggled to control the ball, totaling 17 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 11. These turnovers led to 10 points for Georgia. Tuesday's loss brings the Gamecocks to 93 turnovers in its last five games.
"We find ourselves unfortunately in familiar territory with a similar culprit in terms of we turned the ball over 17 times, we gave up 11 second-chance points and those things impact the game," Paris said. "... We have to figure a way to stop turning the ball over.
This game's 17 turnovers is 4 turnovers above the Gamecocks’ average of 13 per game. The Gamecocks are tied for 270th in the NCAA in turnovers per game.
Reliance on Murray-Boyles and Thomas
Murray-Boyles and Thomas combined for 37 of the Gamecocks' 60 points.
Thomas, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer, reached 19 points in back-to-back games after returning to play from an injury suffered on Jan. 10. Murray-Boyles totaled five assists and two blocks, both leading numbers for the team.
The pair led the team in free throws, with four each, and steals, alongside redshirt freshman guard Arden Conyers, with two each.
The only area in which Murray-Boyle and Thomas did not top the charts for the Gamecocks was in rebounds, as graduate forward Nick Pringle grabbed six.
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will be back at home on Saturday against No. 13 Texas A&M. The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.