Late second-half run propels South Carolina to comeback win over Presbyterian going into SEC play

There are problems. That much is evident. But even things haven’t looked great, South Carolina continues to find ways to win.

In another game where the Gamecocks struggled at the start, they overcame a second-half deficit and defeated Presbyterian 69-59 on Monday. With the win, they’ll move to 10-3 to finish out non-conference play as the SEC slate begins after the new year.

How it happened

It’s been a common trend throughout this season, but South Carolina came out of the gates slow while Presbyterian took advantage. The Blue Hose were fortunate to have some shots bounce their way at the rim but also made some tough shots as well.

Presbyterian shot 52 percent in the first half with a quartet of made three-pointers. Leading scorer Kory Mincy caused a lot of problems for the Gamecock defense as he had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the early going. Kobe Stewart was also productive with eight points, including a pair of threes.

Meanwhile, South Carolina dug itself into a deep hole with sloppy play coming from 10 first-half turnovers. Presbyterian made the Gamecocks pay for their early mistakes with 14 points off those turnovers.

Collin Murray-Boyles, Myles Stute and Zachary Davis each accounted for two turnovers apiece to make for a rough time getting much going offensively.

The Gamecocks shot 38.5 percent from the field by the break. To put into perspective how the first half went, they had as many turnovers as they did made shots going 10-for-26.

Despite missing two free throws, Nick Pringle was the lone bright spot with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. They went into the break trailing by eight and got a much-needed energy boost when Murray-Boyles caught an in-bound lob pass leading to a big dunk.

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

South Carolina slowly got itself back in the game and cut the lead down to two after going on a 9-2 run to begin the second half. Presbyterian seemed to be gasping for air as the Blue Hose barely held on while going more than five minutes without a made basket.

The Gamecocks eventually managed to retake the lead with just over 11 minutes to go. But Presbyterian quickly regained advantage with a pair of made shots from Mincy, who got up to 26 points and looked unstoppable.

Despite Mincy’s strong shooting performance for the Blue Hose, the sophomore guard got up to four fouls with under eight to go, which forced him to take a backseat for a few minutes. Kaleb Scott, another key starter, also got into foul trouble with four fouls going into the final six minutes.

With two of Presbyterian’s starters off the floor, this helped South Carolina regain the lead as well as momentum. The Gamecocks went back up with six minutes to go and built their lead from there with an 11-0 run over a four-minute stretch.

After the Blue Hose cut the deficit down to six with under three minutes to go, Morris Ugusuk knocked down an all-important three to put the lead back to nine. Presbyterian chipped away and made a few late baskets to only trail by 10 but that would be as close as it would get.

Two observations

The slow starts are a serious problem—It feels like an every game occurrence at this point. During non-conference play, South Carolina hasn’t looked good by any means in the first half. That was the case again on Monday with another ugly showing in the first 20 minutes. It’s something the team has been able to work through against lesser competition. But SEC play could be a whole different story if this continues into the new year.

Mincy getting into foul trouble changed everything—South Carolina had no answers for Presbyterian’s Mincy for most of the night. He wound up with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, a respectable performance to say the least. But once he racked up his fourth foul with seven minutes left in the second half, the Blue Hose had to resort to other options. This allowed for the Gamecocks to regain control and get the win by the final buzzer.

Key stat

33 to 23—South Carolina owned the rebound battle in this game, winning by 10 boards. While things were tight on the defensive end of the floor, the Gamecocks had 14 offensive rebounds compared to Presbyterian’s five. This took away any second-chance scoring opportunities for the Blue Hose, especially in the late going.

Turning point

With Presbyterian dealing with some foul trouble, this created a window of opportunity for South Carolina to jump back in front. After trailing for most of the night, the Gamecocks and went on an 11-0 run in the final minutes to build a decently sized lead to hold on to the rest of the game.

Up next

South Carolina will begin SEC play when it travels to No. 17 Mississippi State on Saturday. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. on SEC Network from Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.

Discuss South Carolina basketball on The Insiders Forum!