Lamont Paris lays out blueprint for beating Kentucky in second half

In a pivotal SEC contest between two of the teams near the top of the league standings, South Carolina and Kentucky went at it head to head on Tuesday night. And the Gamecocks jumped out to an early eight-point halftime lead.

The staunch defense from South Carolina seemed to flummox Kentucky, which couldn’t crack the code in the halfcourt.

The Gamecocks ended the half on a 6-0 run, while keeping the Wildcats to just one make on their last 10 field goal attempts. That gave Lamont Paris‘ squad a 33-25 edge at the break.

“Great way to end the half,” Paris said. “A good energy boost going into halftime. I thought we did a good job. I thought our energy was great. We were very active on the defensive end. We defensive rebounded, which was very important against an athletic team like this.”

South Carolina managed only a 20-18 edge in rebounding, but it went into the contest likely the underdog in that respect, especially with the recent clearing of Kentucky big man Zvonimir Ivisic. Ivisic finished the first half with just two rebounds and one point.

Hot shooting also fueled the first half run; South Carolina went 6-of-12 beyond the 3-point line, while Kentucky finished 2-of-10.

South Carolina was also sharing the ball quite well, dealing out nine assists on 13 made baskets. Kentucky had just two assists on 11 makes, relying more on individual play for its scoring.

Paris felt good about his team’s potential to carry the momentum over into the second half.

“I think if we can get stops and we get into transition, we get some stuff naturally out of a free-flowing situation,” Paris said. “I think that’s been good for us. I think also getting the ball inside has been good.”

South Carolina had 12 points in the paint in the first half.

Meanwhile, South Carolina was led in scoring in the first half by Jacobi Wright (nine points) and Ta’lon Cooper (eight points). Collin Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks with six rebounds.