Five things we learned about South Carolina in bounce back performance to beat Mercer

These games haven’t been pretty. South Carolina hasn’t played its best brand of basketball just yet. But Thursday was a step in the right direction towards finding that best version.

On a night where the Gamecocks were pushed to their limits by a Mercer team that couldn’t seem to miss, they still found a way to earn an 84-72 win over the Bears at Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina is now 3-2 on the year with a trip to play in the Fort Myers Tip-Off on deck.

Let’s look at five things we learned about South Carolina from this game on Thursday.

Shooters needed to step up and they did

It took a heavy dose of three-point shots and multiple players needing to shoot the ball better to get this win. South Carolina shot 49.1 percent from the field and knocked 12 three-pointers, seven of which were in the second half.

Coming out of halftime, the Gamecocks made their first five threes before missing from behind the arc. Even with how well they were shooting, Mercer kept coming at them and responded with made baskets more times than not.

But when it came down to it, South Carolina got the performances it needed from players who hadn’t been shooting great before Thursday night. Jamarii Thomas and Zachary Davis were particularly more effective and seemed more comfortable in their shot making.

Thomas finished with a game-high 19 points and went 4-for-5 from deep. Davis, who hadn’t been able to find his shot consistently, scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The Gamecocks also got double-digit point performances from Jacobi Wright and Collin Murray-Boyles. But Thomas and Davis were the two guys they needed to get more out of, which they certainly did.

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Going to need more from the defense

South Carolina might be able to get by in non-conference play with the way it’s playing at the moment. But as the season progresses, the defense is going to have to be better to stand a chance in the long run.

Let’s give credit where it’s due, Mercer had a fantastic shooting night, especially in the second half with 50 percent shooting and six made threes. That’s a reflection of a good shooting game but it’s also a sign that maybe the Gamecock defense wasn’t playing great.

Especially after halftime when the shots were falling on offense, South Carolina couldn’t get consistent stops to create separation until near the end of the game. Mercer went more than five minutes without a made basket, which allowed the Gamecocks to get ahead by double digits and keep the game out of reach.

There were some good moments like that or when Morris Ugusuk made a great play on a two-handed block to prevent a layup. He was quickly fouled and made both free throws to put South Carolina ahead by nine with five minutes to play. That seemed to be the play where the momentum flipped in the Gamecocks’ direction for the remainder of the game.

CMB continues to be hard to stop

Isn’t it crazy what can happen when Collin Murray-Boyles is in the zone and stays out of foul trouble? South Carolina just seems to play a lot better when he’s on the floor and that’s not much of a surprise. The sophomore forward finished with 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting and zero fouls.

It seemed like Mercer put an emphasis on making things tougher on Murray-Boyles considering the type of player he is. But he did more things on Thursday that will make him really hard to slow down when he’s in his bag.

For one, he was money from three-point range and hit a pair of threes in the win. He also showed off some fantastic vision early in the second half when he made a crosscourt pass to Davis for an open look from three, which he knocked down.

It’s things like this that can make Murray-Boyles that much more dangerous. He’s going to get his points and rebounds and contend for a double-double almost every time out, assuming he’s not in foul trouble. But when he can make plays in other ways from the norm, he’s only going to be that much better for this team.

Mercer was going to test South Carolina from the outside

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Coming into Thursday, the Bears were averaging more than 30 three-point attempts per game. They didn’t end up taking 30 threes but they were hitting their shots and went 12-for-26 on the night.

From what the players and Lamont Paris said, they knew this was coming. They understood what Mercer was good at and three-pointers were a part of its brand of basketball. But when the defense needed to lock in and force missed shots, they were able to do so. The Bears missed six consecutive threes to close out the game.

One thing that stood out from what Paris had to say were the adjustments South Carolina made in the final minutes to prevent Mercer from coming back. As he pointed out, the team started switching ball screens and this seemed to have an impact on how they were able to hold onto their lead down the stretch.

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Winning is hard

Duh. But let’s be real. There’s probably the expectation out there that South Carolina should be dominating the lower level, mid-major opponents it has faced in non-conference play. But that’s not exactly how it works. This isn’t football where the SEC team is supposed to dominate the FCS opponent. Anything can happen in college basketball as we all know by now.

It hasn’t been an ideal start for the Gamecocks. For the time being, and probably for the rest of the season, the season-opening loss to North Florida will hang over their heads. And maybe it doesn’t seem great that they didn’t blow out a team like Mercer. But you know what? A win is a win. They aren’t always going to come easy.

There will be some tougher games to come, starting next week when South Carolina takes on Xavier in Fort Myers. But games like this might be what the team needs to gain momentum. This wasn’t the greatest win but it showed a lot about the type of team the Gamecocks have and where things need to improve. All it takes is a few consecutive wins to shift the feeling of where things are right now. And they’ll have a great chance to do that over the next few games.

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