B.J. Mack breaks down what he sees from N'Faly Dante

South Carolina is taking notes on Oregon ahead of their matchup in the NCAA Tournament this afternoon. A big part of that, literally and figuratively, is N’Faly Dante and B.J. Mack knows it.

Mack noted Dante’s importance to the Ducks ahead of their game with them today in Pittsburgh. It’s already fairly obvious considering the 6’11 senior is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

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“Dante is a great player,” said Mack. “He’s one of the leading scorers for their team, for Oregon. Their best rebounder.”

Dante has played in just 20 games this season, which is why, technically, other players leads Oregon in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals per game. Still, in his appearances, Dante is the Ducks’ leader in all four statistics at 16.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.7 steals a contest. He also is tops for them in field-goal percentage as well at 70.2%.

Dante was great this year after returning from injury earlier in the year. That was certainly the case in the Pac-12 Tournament as he averaged 20.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, three steals, and 1.7 blocks while shooting 81.4%. That included a perfect game in the championship as he went 12-12 to put Oregon into March Madness.

Now, coming off that streak, Dante is the Gamecocks’ problem to deal with. For Mack, that means challenging him in the post and keep him, along with the rest of their team, off the offensive glass.

“He tries a lot to get great post position, get to his right hand for the hook. So just pretty much not allow him to get easy catches,” said Mack. “Just trying to push him out, trying to get offensive rebounds. We know they feed off of that and try to get out in transition. He’s a big key factor in that.”

South Carolina is going to have their hands full with their No. 11 seed inside PPG Paints Arena today. That starts with Dante down low and how they can best hold him back in the paint, on the glass, and at the rim.

Paris gives injury update on Ta’Lon Cooper, Myles Stute

As Lamont Paris and South Carolina ready for their NCAA Tournament opener against Oregon, the Gamecocks are hoping two key players heal quickly from injuries that sidelined them at least temporarily during the SEC Tournament.

Myles Stute (hip pointer) and guard Ta’Lon Cooper (ankle) are both recovering from various knocks. The prognosis on both players is relatively positive, though, heading into Thursday’s matchup.

“I think there’s been good progress on behalf of each of those guys,”Paris said. “I think, Myles Stute? His injury was a little more significant in that he had to miss some game time. But he’s made some good progress. So I expect him to be available at some level.”

“We’ll see what that looks like in terms of what percentage of his usual self he is in terms of mobility, in terms of absorbing contact, and being able to continue to play the way that he needs to to be an effective piece for us,” Lamont Paris said.

Stute left their game against Arkansas and then missed the following contest against Auburn. That continued a streak of injuries that has limited him over the second half of the season. He is averaging 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, helping the team in the backcourt after transferring in from Vanderbilt this offseason.

Paris also provided an update on Cooper, whose injury doesn’t sound quite as serious.

“And then Ta’Lon was the same,” he said. “I think he’s at a pretty high percentage of full health and he’ll be ready to go.”