Five things we learned from South Carolina's loss to Georgia

They went from one of the worst to one of the best to now being the worst in the SEC. That’s the simple synopsis of South Carolina men’s basketball over the last three seasons.

The Gamecocks (12-18, 2-15 SEC) suffered a 73-64 loss to Georgia on Senior Night. They have officially clinched a last-place finish in the SEC, regardless of what happens at Tennessee on Saturday.

Here are five things we learned from watching the way South Carolina performed on Tuesday.

SEC Tournament placement secured

One difference with the SEC Tournament this year is that all 16 teams will be included in the field. That means South Carolina, even with a 2-15 conference record going into the regular season finale, will be in Nashville next week.

The Gamecocks will be the No. 16 seed and will play the No. 9 seed in the first game of the tournament next Wednesday, March 12, at 1 p.m. If the season ended today, they would play Mississippi State, a team they lost to twice this season. With Kentucky throttling LSU and Mississippi State and Vanderbilt losing on Tuesday, it looks like it will come down to either the Bulldogs or Commodores for that first-round matchup.

It looks like this season will be coming to an end within the next week. If South Carolina were to pull off the impossible and win the SEC Championship, it would need to win five games in five days. The team is playing a lot better lately, but even for them, that would be a daunting task.

Georgia had a strong first half

In the Gamecocks’ recent wins over Texas and Arkansas, they were dominant on defense, specifically in the first half. They were able to hold those teams to minimal scoring, which led to double-digit point victories. In Georgia’s case, coming into Colonial Life Arena as another bubble team, it came out of the gates fast.

The Dawgs were shooting over 60 percent for most of the first half before ending up at 53.3 percent by the break. South Carolina has faced teams this season that have gotten off to crazy shooting starts like this. Giving up 40 points in the half wasn’t ideal for head coach Lamont Paris. But he thought the defense looked better after halftime.

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Georgia’s defense caused some problems at times

Two specific statistics stick out when looking back at this game. 1) Rebounds. 2) Blocked shots.

Georgia won the rebound battle by a lot, 37-23. 29 of its rebounds came on defense, while South Carolina grabbed 18 boards. That alone made a big difference in the game. Additionally, though, the Dawgs blocked seven shots. Dylan James and Justin Abson each had two, and three other players had one. This was something that hurt the Gamecocks in their first meeting in Athens earlier in the season.

Paris gave a lot of credit to how well Georgia played defensively in this game. The Dawgs held South Carolina to 37.3 shooting from the floor. Couple that with the rebounds and the blocks, and it makes a lot of sense how they won on Tuesday.

Could South Carolina get Stute and/or Pringle back?

With how up in the air everything with the NCAA can be at times, there’s a possibility Myles Stute and Nick Pringle could return for another season. It’s not a foregone conclusion, but it seems like it’s definitely possible.

Thanks to the Diego Pavia rule, which allows college athletes to count junior college time as non-NCAA time towards their eligibility, Pringle could come back if he wants to. However, he hasn’t reached a decision yet. And that’s something he’ll talk with Paris about after the season is over. But he does feel good about the job Paris is doing and the direction in which the program is going.

As for Stute, he hasn’t played since Jan. 4, the first game of SEC play, due to a blood clot injury. When it’s all said and done, he’ll have played in 14 games this year, which normally would mean he’d be out of eligibility. But Paris had been told all the necessary paperwork was filed to apply for a waiver to get another year. So, it’s not a guarantee, but South Carolina is trying its best to make it happen.

Fans want CMB back for another year

Just one day after Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg left the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium to the Cameron Crazies chanting “One more year! One more year!”, a similar sequence happened at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday.

As Collin Murray-Boyles went to the free-throw line and then went to the bench for good at the end of the second half, there were some “One more year!” chants. They weren’t as loud as the ones for Flagg at Duke, but you could still hear them from the crowd.

In all likelihood, the sophomore forward will be a high NBA Draft pick later this summer. He finished with 24 points on 5-of-11 shooting against Georgia in what might’ve been his final home game. If this is the end for him as a Gamecock, Murray-Boyles has given this fanbase a lot to cheer about.

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