Jacobi Wright steps up seamlessly in Meechie Johnson's absence during Friday's win
Coming into Friday, there was no reason to believe things would change. Why break what’s been working so well? But random things tend to happen from time to time.
During warmups, Meechie Johnson was noticeably absent on the floor. Instead of donning his usual all-white game attire, he traded it in for a black Gamecock jumpsuit and a court side seat. Johnson was ruled out with a knee injury. It would later be learned that he was dealing with some inflammation in the knee.
But when one man goes down, another must step up. And for South Carolina, it was Jacobi Wright who had to jump into the starting lineup. He had yet to start a game this year, but he had more than enough experience to come in and play.
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Wright finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting in a 70-43 win over Elon. It was more than good enough to fill the giant shoes left by Johnson, the team’s leading scorer.
“I thought I came in and did a solid job, I just tried to come in and play my game,” Wright said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it, trying to feel Meechie’s role. Just go out there and do what I do and help the team where I can. I’ve just got to be a little more efficient. That’s probably the most thing I would say.”
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The junior guard had three rebounds and three assists in the win. But he also had two steals. His play on defense was a big part of why Elon struggled. The Phoenix committed 15 turnovers, which led to a lot of missed chances to score.
“I was kind of just taking what was given from the defense,” Wright said. “And I just saw some gaps and took them. Got some good finishes by the rim.”
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While Wright was the main man to step up for Johnson, there were others who played some valuable minutes with the game being a blowout. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk played 21 minutes and had five rebounds. Morris Ugusuk played 18 minutes but went 0-for-4 from the field. And Collin Murray-Boyles was on the floor for 17 minutes and finished with 10 points.
“I mean, I think it’s good for experience getting to play those minutes and getting us ready for conference play,” Ta’Lon Cooper said. “I mean, you never know somebody might go down again. And you need other players to step up, so I feel like that’s good thing. It was a good thing that happened tonight so that way going into conference play, we’ll be ready if that does happen.”
