Five things we learned from South Carolina's win over USC Upstate

After starting 3-3 to begin the season, South Carolina has rattled off four straight victories.

The Gamecocks are now 7-3 after a 73-53 win at home against USC Upstate on Saturday. After playing two ACC opponents in its past four games, South Carolina will welcome another ACC opponent on Tuesday. This time, it’s the Clemson Tigers. But securing a win against the Spartans had to come before the rivalry matchup.

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

Nick Pringle has quietly been very efficient from the line

Besides the fact that Nick Pringle tied his career-high with 19 points, it’s worth noting that he went 3-3 from the charity stripe. After starting the year shooting 56.7% from the line in his first five games of the season, he’s improved.

Starting with the loss to Xavier, Pringle is now 13-14 shooting free throws in his last five games. That’s a 92.9% clip and a heck of an improvement. Does that coincide with the team improving from the line?

Marginally. In the Gamecocks’ first five games, they shot 65.9% on free throws. In their last five, they’ve shot 67.6%. It hasn’t been an across-the-board type of improvement as a team. However, it’s encouraging to see Pringle visually improve, and that was evident on Saturday.

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Who’s the Wright primary distributor?

Jacobi Wright led the Gamecocks with six assists on Saturday. That marked the third time he’s done so this season. Wright ranks second on the team in APG with 3.1, right behind Jamarii Thomas’s 3.2 per game mark.

Wright was able to facilitate and find open teammates both inside and along the perimeter. Wright and Thomas combined for nine assists and just two turnovers. The two have been team leaders in assists in eight of the team’s 10 games.

Though Ta’Lon Cooper’s departure shook up the backcourt rotation, it’s possible that Wright and Thomas can be a type of Cooper-by-committee. Both have different skill sets, with Thomas being more of a ball-centered point, and Wright relying more on mid-ranges and catch-and-shoot opportunities.

Cam Scott finding his confidence

Freshman Cam Scott had not been too efficient prior to the game against USC Upstate. Coming into the contest, Scott had a 20.5 FG%. However, with the game result not in doubt in the second half, the freshman got plenty of opportunity on Saturday.

Scott set a career-high with seven points, hitting a couple of jumpers and going 3-4 from the line.

With games against Clemson and Presbyterian still on the schedule, there are opportunities for Scott to continue to grow and improve his game before conference games start.

Stute stays scoreless…

Myles Stute recorded 23 minutes on the court on Saturday, but didn’t score a point to show for it. This marks the second straight game that the wing was held scoreless against a mid-major opponent.

In games against East Carolina and USC Upstate, Stute shot a combined 0-6 from the field in 21 MPG. Though he did collect a couple of rebounds per game and two assists against ECU, his offensive output has fallen considerably recently.

Last December, Stute played in seven games and averaged 11 PPG, including 15 against East Carolina. This season, despite a starting role, he hasn’t quite delivered at that same rate. Zachary Davis is averaging more than double Stute’s PPG mark, and is playing roughly the same amount of minutes per game.

Much like last year with Collin Murray-Boyles replacing Stephen Clark in the starting lineup, it’s worth monitoring if Davis takes back a starting spot. (Davis started the season opener against North Florida but has come off the bench in the other nine games.)

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Clemson is a winnable game for the Gamecocks

While South Carolina was going through warmups, Clemson was busy losing to Memphis at home. To be fair, would South Carolina have been favored against Memphis at home? Likely not. But Memphis and Boise State have provided blueprints on how to defeat the Tigers.

In the two losses for Clemson, their opponents were a combined 19-49 from deep, or 38.8%. In those same games, Clemson shot 16-56 from three, 28.6%. On Saturday, the Gamecocks shot just 26.3% from three. However, they’ve shot an overall 40.9% clip from three during their four-game winning streak.

In that same span, South Carolina’s opponents are shooting 25.9% from three. If that type of margin is present on Tuesday, South Carolina has a chance to take down their rivals.

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