'Here they come': Crowd energy makes difference in South Carolina's win over Notre Dame
Micah Shrewsberry had never been to Colonial Life Arena before Tuesday night. But he had watched some South Carolina games on TV and noticed how small the crowds were.
When the Notre Dame head coach walked out from the tunnel on Tuesday, he ran into something entirely different.
“I was out there during warmups, and I saw those students pour in and I was like, ‘Oh, sh*t. Here they come,'” Shrewsberry said.
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After starting out the season 5-0, South Carolina players asked for a sellout, to pack out the house. And the fans did just that.
With a crowd of 15,215 on hand, the Gamecocks fed off the energy and delivered with a 65-53 over the Fighting Irish to remain unbeaten.
Ultimately, games come down to how a team plays on the court. But a loud atmosphere can certainly have an impact on the game, and it did on Tuesday.
Every time Notre Dame missed a shot, the crowd went wild. It got louder when the Irish didn’t even hit the net on a shot. “Airball, airball, airball!” chants echoed throughout the arena more than once.
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As the game wore on, the Irish weren’t hitting their shots as well. They shot 26.9 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from behind the arc in the second half. And you can be sure the home fans let them hear every bit of it.
“They had a good crowd and it got loud in here when they went on those runs, and that’s urgent, like you need that,” Shrewsberry said. “You’ve got to have poise in those situations. You’ve got to be able to go to something that you trust and be able to get a bucket in some way. We’re just not ready quite ready for that. We will be, though. This is going to help us.”
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The raucous atmosphere even caught the attention of head coach Lamont Paris.
“Crowd was awesome. It was great,” Paris said. “There were a couple moments where they turned up, and I don’t even ever really notice or pay too much attention. But today I did. And there were just a couple of things, a couple of plays that happened that turned it up. There’s nothing that inspires players and energizes guys like a home crowd.”
Now, South Carolina’s attention shifts to another home game, this time versus George Washington on Friday night. And the players are hopeful Gamecock fans can turn out in big numbers again and make Colonial Life Arena a tough place to play for any opponent.
“We need that type of energy from the crowd every day,” forward BJ Mack said. “We hope that they come out some more. I hope we had a good showing for them. It’s pretty much just giving that energy off from the crowd makes us play even better and even harder.”
