The South Carolina men’s basketball team lost 66-63 against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday night, dropping to 0-4 against SEC opponents this season.
The game got off to a slow start during the first half with neither team being able to pull away from the other. Both teams struggled to string together scoring possessions due to strong defenses and high amounts of turnovers.
The Gamecocks turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, marking a season-high record number of turnovers in a single game. The turnovers set the Gamecocks behind, as the Commodores capitalized with 14 points off turnovers and shot 10 more shots than the Gamecocks in the first half.
The Commodores went on an extended scoring run to end the first half. The team outscored the Gamecocks 11-4 in the final four minutes of the half, creating a 33-26 lead heading into the break.
Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles led South Carolina with 8 points at halftime, while sophomore guard Morris Ugusuk recorded 6 points in limited minutes due to foul trouble.
The Gamecocks fought back quickly to begin the second half, cutting Vanderbilt's lead to just 2 points, seven minutes into the half. The Commodores didn’t give up the advantage easily, despite the Gamecocks tying the game on three different occasions second half, with under four minutes left. This included a three-pointer by Ugusuk to tie the game 61-61 with 1:40 left.
Senior guard Jakobi Wright fouled out of the game with 1:19 remaining, leaving the Gamecocks without its primary ball handler during the clutch.
The Commodores sealed the game with a layup off of an offensive rebound by junior point guard Devin McGlockton with 0.6 seconds remaining in the game.
Ugusuk recorded a career-high 20 points, while Murray-Boyles had 14 points and nine rebounds.
"(Ugusuk) stepped up and played well offensively today." head coach Lamont Paris said. "You just need more guys to be able to do that."
Turnovers suffocate South Carolina
The Gamecocks had a season-low in regard to taking care of the ball, finishing the game with 25 turnovers, including 16 turnovers in the first half. In the opening half, every player who entered the game for South Carolina turned the ball over at least once.
The Gamecocks had averaged 11.4 turnovers entering the Wednesday night matchup, while the Commodores were tied for the most steals in the SEC with 10.3. South Carolina’s 25 turnovers against Vanderbilt marks the most turnovers by an SEC team in conference play in the last three seasons.
South Carolina’s 25 turnovers directly resulted in 22 of Vanderbilt’s points. The Gamecocks turned over the ball on 36.8% of its possessions.
"We turned the ball over more than a third of the time that we had it," Paris said. "That's unacceptable. It's just going to be hard to win a game if you do that."
Rebounding keeps Gamecocks alive
One of the reasons the Gamecocks remained competitive in this matchup was its rebounding. The team's success rebounding was a major reason the game was within one possession for much of the second half, despite a historic number of turnovers.
The Gamecocks out rebounded the Commodores 37-25 during the game, which included two more rebounds on the offensive glass. Rebounding kept South Carolina aggressive, with Wright leading the team with 10 boards.
Injuries haunt Gamecocks
The team announced Senior guard Myles Stute had suffered a blood clot Jan. 7, and senior guard Jamarri Thomas had sprained his knee at practice Jan. 10. The injuries have pushed several Gamecocks to step into new roles. Both Stute and Thomas were consistent starters and have been out the past two games.
As a result, junior guard Zachary Davis and Ugusuk have been promoted to the starting lineup and redshirt freshman guard Arden Conyers has seen a significant increase in minutes off the bench.The loss of Thomas resulted in ball handling duties being given to Wright.
What's next?
South Carolina will travel to Norman, Oklahoma. to take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPNU.