Lamont Paris shares what wins over Kentucky, Tennessee say about South Carolina

South Carolina slayed yet another giant on Tuesday night, defeating No. 5 Tennessee on the road in Knoxville 63-59 after entering the matchup as 13.5-point underdogs.

The win marks the Gamecocks’ second win over a ranked opponent in seven days, defeating No. 5 ranked Kentucky last Tuesday after being the underdog in that matchup as well. And after the game, South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was asked about what the two wins says about his squad.

“They got a lot of heart, it’s a passionate group,” Paris said. “They want the spoils of whatever happens when you do what we’ve done, what we’ve done already. They want the spoils of that.”

It’s clear that South Carolina’s team doesn’t fear the big moment in their second season under Paris, relishing the moment to play the role of a disrupter in the SEC. And they’ve done so as a team on both ends of the floor, holding both Kentucky and Tennessee below their season points per game average in their matchups and out-assisting the Vols and Wildcats a combined 35-18 in the two matchups.

“They’re fighters, they’re tough, they want to win badly as a group and I say that as if that’s the assumption that everyone should make with every team. That’s not, in 2024 that’s not the assumption,” Paris explained. “We got a team full of guys where everybody wants to win and they do whatever that they can.”

Paris has seemingly turned around the Gamecocks’ program in short order, with an 11-21 record last season in his first year with the team along with just four conference wins. And with 10 games remaining in the regular season this year, South Carolina boasts an impressive 18-3 record with just one loss in conference play thus far.

“But it’s a resilient group, they have a lot of respect, our guys. They have a lot of believers, our guys do, and so they know who matters the most as opinions are formed and so they feel good about it. It’s a confident group, they’re a confident group, they work hard, they play well, they’re a confident group,” Paris concluded.

Scoring hasn’t come easy for the Gamecocks this season, ranking second to last in the SEC averaging 72.7 points per game. But they currently lead the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 64.2 points per game while playing with a high level effort and intensity that’s bred success.

South Carolina will look to maintain their winning ways this Saturday in a rematch against the only SEC team that’s beaten them this season, visiting Athens to take on Georgia in a 1 p.m. ET game airing on SEC Network.