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

For the first time since the 2013-14 season, South Carolina is 0-5 in the SEC.

After two close losses to Auburn and Vanderbilt, South Carolina fell apart in the second half for an 82-62 loss to Oklahoma. South Carolina hasn’t won a road game since beating Boston College in early December.

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

Who is PG1?

Without Jamarii Thomas, the Gamecocks have rotated guards at the one spot on offense, to varying success. The success levels vary from “average” to “not good.” The loss of the Norfolk State transfer has brought offensive flow to a standstill.

In the past two games combined, South Carolina has committed 41 turnovers to just 23 assists. Is that good? If extrapolated over an entire season, that mark would be 362nd of 364 D-1 teams. Not great.

Both Morris Ugusuk and Jacobi Wright fit naturally more of a shooter role instead of a lead point guard. They’ve both had success shooting the ball, but with Thomas out, there isn’t a true point guard on the roster to manage the offense. It’s a mirror image of Lamont Paris’s first year in Columbia.

Where would this team be without Morris Ugusuk?

That’s a question that most sane members of the South Carolina fanbase would never have thought they’d be asking in 2025. But the Finnish guard has transformed into the most reliable shooter for the Gamecocks recently.

After averaging 2.2 PPG last season, Ugusuk has hit double-figures four times this year. That includes his past two games. After scoring 20 against Vanderbilt, he backed that up with 15 in Norman on Saturday. Perhaps the highlight of the day for South Carolina was Ugusuk’s half-court shot at the first-half buzzer. Trailing by seven, Ugusuk calmly chucked it from the OU logo into the net.

Of the active players on the Gamecocks roster, Ugusuk is over eight percentage points higher than the 2nd-best three-point shooter. His 43.3 3PT% ranks in the 91st percentile amongst D-I guards. In the past two games, he’s 7-for-13 from deep. In the first half of games this season, he’s shooting 44.4% from three, and in the second half, he’s still good at 40.0%. The most important stat from Saturday, however? 0 turnovers from Ugusuk.

The game slipped in an instant

For most of the game, the Gamecocks were right there with the Sooners. But all of a sudden, late in the game, Oklahoma went up by double-digits. With seven minutes left, Collin Murray-Boyles was at the line with a chance to make the score 59-55. But he missed the free throw, fouled out two minutes later, and Oklahoma outscored South Carolina 23-8 the rest of the way.

South Carolina was down eight points early. They righted the ship and even managed a four-point lead at one point. But the combination of Murray-Boyles fouling out and Dayton Forsythe’s deep three seemed to take all the wind out of the sails. From that point on, the Gamecocks looked unmotivated. They looked defeated. They looked like they didn’t expect to win the game. It’s natural to think that, on the road and down eight, but to let that affect the on-court product is something else.

It will likely be a long slog for South Carolina in the coming weeks. Their next seven opponents are all ranked. Sure, there’s a chance that the Gamecocks could pick up a Quad-1 victory in that stretch. But not if they play with the motivation of the last five minutes in Norman on Saturday.

WIN TICKETS: The No. 5 Florida Gators are coming to Columbia on Wednesday, Jan. 22

BBV deserves a hustle award

No, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk will likely never hit 10 points in a game again. But he has been playing with an elite motor despite being on a team with minimal postseason hopes halfway through the season. Multiple times against Oklahoma, and against Vanderbilt, BBV was diving or hustling for loose balls like his life depended on it.

In the absence of Josh Gray, Bosmans-Verdonk has stepped up into a “need a rebound” type of role. In the past three games, he’s played 10+ minutes each game and averaged 3.0 RPG. But that’s not including tie-ups that resulted in jump balls or the times he’s extended full-body to lunge for a ball.

It’s easy to lose heart or motivation when a player plays on a team that isn’t playing well. But every second Bosmans-Verdonk is on the court, he hustles. And that’s about all you can ask for.

Zero blocks? That’s low

For the first time since last March, South Carolina recorded zero blocks in a 40-minute game. Oklahoma managed four, but the Gamecocks did not collect a single swat. That’s despite 33 attempts inside the arc from Oklahoma.

It would be one thing if South Carolina didn’t get blocked, either. If both the Gamecocks and their opponents didn’t send back shots, it wouldn’t be an issue. But South Carolina is getting blocked an average of 4.4 times per game. That’s 347th nationally out of 364 teams. Not good.

Having Murray-Boyles foul out and Nick Pringle play just 18 minutes certainly cuts down a team’s chances of getting a block. But South Carolina hasn’t had multiple players record a block in a game since the loss to Alabama. Do the Gamecocks need to be more physical? Maybe it’s time for BBV minutes. Maybe.

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