Make that five in a row
South Carolina drops their fifth game in a row in a close contest to Georgia 81-78. This was one of the better games the Gamecocks have played as a team recently, but there is still a whole lot of room for improvement.
The Gamecocks were able to hold the Bulldogs’ key players to limited scoring, it just wasn’t enough. Terry Roberts was held to a very quiet 10 points while shooting 4-12 from the field. Kario Oquendo had 16 points, but shot 3-9 from the field with 10 of the points coming from the free throw line. Mardrez McBride came up big time for Georgia off the bench, scoring a team high of 17 points while also adding 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and two steals.
Hayden Brown was absolutely phenomenal for the Gamecocks tonight, putting up 17 points on 70% shooting from the field. Brown was also dominant on the boards, grabbing a game high of 10 rebounds. This was arguably Brown’s best game as a Gamecock.
The backcourt of the Gamecocks played similar, with Chico Carter Jr. scoring 12 points and Meechie Johnson Jr scoring 11. The only difference was Carter shot 4-7 from the field, while Johnson shot an absurd 4-17 from the field. This is the third game in a row where Johnson just hasn’t been able to hit his stride, and it has cost the Gamecocks dearly.
GG Jackson had a pretty common night, scoring a team high of 18 points while grabbing 9 rebounds. Jackson was also great defensively, swiping 4 steals. However, Jackson cost the team dearly with a career high of 7 turnovers. These turnovers cost South Carolina key possessions all throughout the game, and must be improved on.
Where the Gamecocks really lost this game was overtime. South Carolina only hit a single field goal in overtime, that being a Jacobi Wright three-pointer early into the period. This was only this team’s second time playing in overtime this season, and they were clearly unprepared and cracked under the pressure.
Overall, the Gamecocks played a pretty solid game for their standards until overtime. The team has got to be better away from home, and especially when the game is coming down to the wire.
South Carolina will look to bounce back against Mississippi State on the 31st.