Missouri's second half shooting gives South Carolina 8th straight loss

South Carolina hadn’t won a basketball game in nearly a month, dating back to Jan. 10. And despite its best efforts, the end result didn’t change on Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks shot well but the struggles that have plagued them all season prevailed in the end. In front of the home crowd, Missouri won 83-74.

For the Gamecocks, it’s their eighth consecutive loss and 10th overall loss in SEC play.

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How it happened

Missouri didn’t have much trouble getting off to a fast start, sinking five of its first six shots. But South Carolina (8-16, 1-10 SEC) wasn’t shooting too bad either.

Without GG Jackson on the floor, the Gamecocks relied on a three-guard, two-forward lineup to start the game. Hayden Brown led the charge with great play on both ends, hitting five of seven shots in the first half.

When Jackson came in seven minutes into the action, he immediately knocked down a three-pointer from the corner. He’d continue to play strongly in the first half, with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and three made three-pointers.

Eventually, South Carolina’s strong shooting would catch up and help them take the lead late in the half. They finished the period shooting 56 percent.

Missouri shot 44 percent from the field but managed to capitalize off mistakes to regain the momentum. Of South Carolina’s 10 first half turnovers, four of them came in the final three minutes. The Tigers had 12 points off turnovers to take a five-point lead into the break.

There were a total of four ties and six lead changes with South Carolina only leading for around three and a half minutes.

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Jacobi Wright came out firing in the second half with a pair of threes to give the Gamecocks the lead. However, Missouri’s Kobe Brown started to answer back after a sluggish first half. He hit his own pair of threes to get Missouri going.

It was just the jolt of the energy that the Tigers needed. After fending off South Carolina from regaining the lead, they went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to as much as 12 points.

Missouri was back to making its shots just as it did when the game started. It finished the game shooting 51 percent. The Tigers went 12-for-22 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range to take control.

While not being able to muster a comeback late in the second half, it wasn’t a bad night for the Gamecocks. They managed to outshoot the Tigers, shooting 52 percent from the floor.

However, Missouri proved to be too much for them. The Gamecocks only led for four minutes, trailing for more than 34 minutes. Turnovers plagued them from making a big run. They turned the ball over 23 percent of the time. The Tigers picked up 18 points off turnovers.

Two observations

GG Jackson makes up for mistake with solid effort—All eyes would shift to Jackson after his Instagram Live drama over the weekend. He said he deserved the ball more and that’s what he got. He had one of his best games of the season with South Carolina, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. It’s a good first step in gaining back the confidence of his coaches and the fanbase.

Not being able to finish strong—Despite shooting the ball well, the Gamecocks seemed to always play from behind. It felt as if the game could go either way depending on what they did. Towards the end of the night, the struggles started to set in as the defense couldn’t stop a red-hot Missouri offense.

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Key stat

7 to 18—While Missouri turned the ball over 10 times, South Carolina couldn’t take advantage. It only scored seven points off miscues, while the Tigers had 18 points off 14 turnovers from the Gamecocks.

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Turning point

“Kobe” chants started to echo throughout Mizzou Arena as Brown, the Tigers’ leading scorer, found his rhythm. After starting 2-of-6 from the field, Brown picked it up in the second half. He wouldn’t miss another basket as he hit his final four shots. He finished the game with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Up next

The Gamecocks will keep searching for answers heading into the weekend when they travel to face Ole Miss. The Rebels have been struggling equally as much, sitting at 10-14 (2-9 SEC) this season. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

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