South Carolina insider Wes Mitchell answers three questions regarding Gamecocks' first-round matchup with Oregon

After a roller coaster of a regular season, the Oregon Ducks are set to make their long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament this afternoon and will look to keep their season alive against South Carolina.

The No. 6-seeded Gamecocks (26-7) and the No. 11 Ducks (23-11) are set to tip off at 1 p.m. PT (TNT) at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Ahead of Thursday’s matchup, Wes Mitchell of Gamecock Central answered three questions regarding UO vs. USC.

1) What concerns you most about South Carolina at this point? Or maybe a better way to phrase it is, what is the Gamecocks’ most glaring weakness? 

This is a South Carolina team of veteran players that has been highly dedicated to playing the style of ball that Lamont Paris wants from them — that means slowing the pace on offense, working the basketball around, and being willing to take shots late in the clock. They’re incredibly intentional in their decision-making and at times will even give up chances to run in favor of sticking to their style.

On defense, they’ll play a ton of half-court man while mixing in some 1-3-1 zone as a change of pace. They want to force teams out of their game and force opponents into a half-court game on both sides. 

While the metrics don’t show Carolina to be a great shooting team, this is a team that can knock down the 3-ball and has been at its best when stretch four B.J. Mack is able to hit from outside. He’s not a typical four but has a nice touch from outside and the free-throw line and when he’s on, Carolina is tough to beat because his unorthodox style can force teams out of the paint. 

I point out all of those play-style notes because they’re directly related to the team’s weaknesses. While this is a much better shooting team overall than some of South Carolina’s recent teams, they still can be streaky from outside the arc and will go stretches of games where they don’t score much. Those lulls are obviously dangerous against teams that can score on the other end. Because of their pace of play and commitment to defense, it doesn’t always burn them, but they do tend to play a lot of close games. While Carolina doesn’t turn the ball over much, a few teams (Auburn being the biggest culprit) with elite athleticism and length have been able to make them uncomfortable and have been able to force them out of their comfort zone. The worst-case scenario for this team is to go cold from the outside while simultaneously getting out of their style of play.

2) Oregon center N’Faly Dante carried the Ducks through the Pac-12 Tournament and produced arguably the best performance of his career during the title game win over Colorado. How has South Carolina fared against traditional back-to-the-basket centers this season? Is there anybody on the roster who might be able to match up with Dante in the post? 

South Carolina has certainly faced some big men in league play, with Kentucky’s post guys coming to mind, but no one who I’d call a direct comparison to Dante, at least in my quick viewing of his game. 

The Gamecocks will start Collin Murray-Boyles at the five and Mack at the four, as they have all year, so they’ll naturally be smaller than Dante from the jump. It’s going to be fascinating to watch the 6-foot-7, 231-pound Murray-Boyles match up with Dante as the freshman has shown no fear in going at players bigger than him all year. While Dante will certainly at times get the better of him, and Murray-Boyles will be at a disadvantage on the defensive end, “CMB” — as he’s known in Columbia — is highly skilled on the offensive end with both his right and left hand and he’ll make Dante work too. He has the type of mindset where he’ll relish the challenge. 

One of the first Gamecocks off the bench will likely be 7-foot, 265-pounder Josh Gray, who Carolina rotates in at the five and then will slide Murray-Boyles down to the four and rotate him with Mack. Gray isn’t going to light up the scoreboard but he’s a willing and physical defender who will likely be tasked with one job when he’s on the floor — doing everything he can to neutralize Dante. 

3) Who would you say is South Carolina’s “X-factor” guy at this point? 

There are a lot of guys who you could make a case for. As mentioned above, Gray is going to have to play some key minutes off the bench. Murray-Boyles has arguably been the team’s best player during the second half of conference play and they’ll need him to play well if they’re going to make a tournament run. And as mentioned in the first question, Mack is a difference-maker when he’s on. 

But I’ll pick one of Carolina’s veterans — guard Meechie Johnson. Johnson, who transferred in from Ohio State two offseasons ago, has been through all of the downs of season 1 and through all the mostly ups of a season 2 under Paris in which Johnson himself has been streaky. He was arguably the best returning player on a team that now has several who can argue for that crown. But when Johnson is on, he’s the type of difference-maker who can go off on the offensive end, both in getting to the basket and launching from deep. He’s also a leader and this team feeds off him when he’s going right. When that happens, the Gamecocks are tough to beat.