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

There’s an argument to be made for South Carolina being 2-2 in SEC play after four games. But for various reasons, mainly self-inflicted mistakes, the Gamecocks are still empty-handed in the win column.

South Carolina (10-7, 0-4 SEC) suffered another 66-63 loss for the second straight game, this time losing to Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

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

Turnovers lost you this game

Plain and simple. When you turn the ball over 25 times, you’re going to have a tough time winning a game.

Of South Carolina’s 68 total possessions, the team turned the ball over 36.7 percent of the time. That’s a number that is far too high. Even for the Gamecocks, who have racked up a lot of turnovers this year, it’s hard to believe that many miscues occurred in one game.

Vanderbilt went for 22 points off those turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half. By halftime, the team already had 16 turnovers, which was not just the most in a half but the most all season for them. They only had nine in the second half, but is that really saying a lot?

In a game where they only lost by three points, it’s easy to think the outcome could’ve been a lot different and in South Carolina’s favor with a few less turnovers. But it’s a problem and something that can’t happen at that rate again.

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Vanderbilt did a good job of creating those turnovers

While 25 turnovers are a bad number any way you put it, let’s give some credit where it’s due. Vanderbilt played well defensively and forced a lot of those mistakes. The Commodores, who came into the game top 10 in steals, finished with 15 steals against the Gamecocks.

After the game, head coach Lamont Paris gave them a lot of credit for having as many “clean strips” as they did, something he admitted he hadn’t seen that many of before in a game. It got to a point where the realization set in for him that South Carolina needs to focus in on making sure to protect the ball on the way up to the rim.

With that said, a lot of the turnovers came from simple mistakes. There were a handful of turnovers that were deemed as bad passes or travel violations. Again, it’s things like that where if the Gamecocks cut down on the things they controlled, they probably would’ve won.

For as bad as things were at times, they still had a chance to win

There shouldn’t be moral victories for losing in most cases. But even with the numerous self-inflicted mistakes, South Carolina still almost won this game. After trailing for much of the second half, the Gamecocks finally got even with about six minutes to go. From there, it was a tight-knit battle until the end.

Going into the final seconds of this game, the score was all tied up. South Carolina even had an opportunity to take the lead, potentially for good, but couldn’t get it done as Vanderbilt went on and made the go-ahead basket with 0.6 seconds remaining.

So, while this loss was avoidable to say the least, there’s at least some good in the fact the team was on the verge of winning, even without their best performance. But at the same time, it’s not like Vanderbilt played a great game. In most statistical categories, the Commodores were worse than the Gamecocks.

Again, though, the moral of the story were those dreaded turnovers. That’s the one battle that Vanderbilt won convincingly, which was good enough to win the game. The problem for South Carolina is that it won’t be like this every time. Sure, you can catch some teams on an off night. But most nights, SEC teams will be able to take full advantage of those mistakes and put the game out of reach.

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Somebody has to grab that last rebound

Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton is listed as 6-foot-7, 230 pounds. Nick Pringle is 6-foot-10, 220 pounds. As the wise Jedi Master Yoda might say, “Size matters not.” But it should have with these two players going for the most important rebound of the game in the final seconds.

With the game tied at 63, AJ Hoggard got a good look on a midrange jumper but missed. Pringle, who was trying to box out McGlockton, only got one hand on the ball as McGlockton created enough separation to haul in the rebound with two hands and go right back up for the go-ahead layup.

The thing was it wasn’t even an easy shot that he made. McGlockton threw the ball back up while being fouled for an and-one. And here in lies the problem. Pringle has to be able to grab that rebound. This is partially why he was brought in.

Down the stretch last season, South Carolina had some real issues going up against big men like Johni Broome and N’Faly Dante to where it needed to be addressed in the offseason. To the team’s credit, they did by bringing in Pringle. It’s just one play, but those are the ones that the Gamecocks are counting on him to make, especially with some size advantage.

Pringle finished with three points and three rebounds while picking up five fouls and three turnovers.

Morris Ugusuk might be South Carolina’s best option at guard

With South Carolina currently down two starters, Ugusuk has slid into the starting five and made the most of his opportunity on Wednesday. The sophomore guard finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.

He really turned it on in the second half with 14 points in 16 minutes, along with two three-pointers and two steals. If it weren’t for him, the Gamecocks might not have been able to stay in the fight for as long as they did.

While he’s only averaging 21.5 minutes per game, Ugusuk might be South Carolina’s best option at guard right now. That’s considering Jamarii Thomas and Myles Stute are out. But with what the team has now, he’s giving them some good minutes.

One thing is for certain: he’s definitely their best three-point shooter, leading the way at 43.1 percent from deep. That said, South Carolina needs to get better guard play from others like Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis. Going a combined 2-for-11 from the field with eight turnovers isn’t going to cut it.

And that might be part of the problem with the struggles this season. It does feel like they are sorely missing Ta’Lon Cooper, who was the floor general of last year’s team that could always be counted on. Having someone like that on this team would probably help a lot. But it also doesn’t help they don’t have two of their starters for the time being.

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