Five things we learned from South Carolina's win over South Carolina State

Back in the win column. After a shock loss at home against North Florida in the season opener, South Carolina took down South Carolina State. The victory marked the first win of the season for the Gamecocks.

Though the game felt a bit closer, at least in points in the second half, South Carolina won 86-64. A win is always good, but a win especially after a loss does feel better.

Collin Murray-Boyles and Jacobi Wright both had career nights on the court for the Gamecocks.

Here are five things we learned from watching the way the Gamecocks performed on Friday.

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South Carolina showed rebounding doesn’t always have to be an issue

In the loss to North Florida, South Carolina was out-rebounded 43-37. This time, however, facing an opponent with similar size, the Gamecocks won the battle by a 51-36 margin. This was the first time the team eclipsed the 50-rebound mark since a win over Western Kentucky in 2022.

Sure, a lot of that had to do with Collin Murray-Boyles. The big man set a career-high with 16 boards. But the rest of the team still did their part. Zachary Davis had six. Myles Stute corralled seven. In all, nine different Gamecocks got multiple rebounds. It was a true team effort.

It’ll be different once the team goes up against a Power Five opponent, but for now, it’s a good start.

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Jacobi Wright might be starting the rest of the season

In the first two games of the season, Jacobi Wright has averaged 16.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 2.5 RPG. That’s in 27.5 MPG, tied for third-most with Davis. Wright didn’t start game one, but he earned the start Friday, and led the team with a career-high 20 points.

The senior guard from Fort Mill has been with the team since the Frank Martin era. He’s a South Carolina native, and prior to Friday, had played in 97 games with 25 starts. His career average in PPG? 5.7 before Friday night. But he’s developed as a player and as a scorer in his time in Columbia.

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As a freshman, Wright was 25.6% from deep. As a sophomore, he shot 35.0%. He stepped back a bit to 32.2% last season, but is 4-for-8 this season. Very small sample size. Comically low sample size. But it’s more about the way he’s gotten those shots. Off-ball movement and off-the-dribble moves have made opportunities appear for Wright.

The season is long, and the starting lineup will certainly change more as the year goes on. But Jacobi might be the Wright guy for the job.

Taking care of the ball might be an issue

Besides Nick Pringle (who fouled out), every starter had multiple turnovers. Eight different Bulldogs recorded a steal. South Carolina, at times, was careless with the ball, and it led to chances for South Carolina State’s offense.

Part of this is simply rust getting knocked off. Even last year’s team had close calls to begin the year, with close games against DePaul and Charleston Southern. But offensively, there was a lack of an identity besides Wright’s shooting and CMB’s inside scoring. The offense didn’t look like it flowed the same way as last year. And that’s understandable. The team is still dealing with the loss of Ta’Lon Cooper. Sooner or later, though, they’ll have to figure it out.

Last year, South Carolina didn’t have a single game where an opponent had 12 steals. This year, they had a team hit that mark in the second game of the season. Is that worrisome? It’s not good.

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Morris Ugusuk may have one job, but he’s really good at it

Morris Ugusuk, the sophomore guard from Finland, scored six points on Friday. But he didn’t record any other stats. He didn’t have any on Monday, either. Including both games this season, he’s had six career games with at least one 3PA and no other stats.

Ugusuk doesn’t have the weight of other players. (Physically, not metaphorically. He’s listed at 6’4″, 170 pounds, tied for lightest on the team with Cam Scott.) But he’s shown the ability to be able to get open and reliably hit a three when the time calls.

On Friday, with South Carolina up 9-7, Ugusuk hit a corner three of an assist from Murray-Boyles. After South Carolina State answered, Ugusuk went down the court again and made another three. The lead wouldn’t get dropped to two points again for the rest of the game.

Ugusuk won’t be the team’s leading rebounder or assister, but he’s able to get onto the court and hit a three when needed. That’s a valuable presence.

Who’s the Ta’Lon Cooper for this team?

The easy answer is that there isn’t one. Also fun fact nugget (maybe not fun actually), but South Carolina hasn’t had a player record 10 assists in a game since before the pandemic. Jermaine Couisnard was the last Gamecock to do so, back in March of 2020. Maik Kotsar was the leading scorer in that game, a win over Mississippi State.

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On Monday, Jacobi Wright led the team with six assists. Friday, Murray-Boyles and Davis both led the team with four. Jamarii Thomas, thought to be the closest thing to the Cooper role, is third on the team with 2.5 APG. Thomas has done well scoring the ball, though, averaging 13.0 PPG.

It’s only two games so far, but to put it in perspective, Ta’Lon Cooper led the team in assists the first seven games last year. There’s probably not a Cooper on the roster, but if the team can pass that role off to different players every game, maybe it’ll lessen the void.

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