This week in South Carolina basketball
South Carolina basketball is now 4-3 on the 2024-2025 season. In Monday’s first NET rankings (the metric used to help determine the NCAA Tournament field), the Gamecocks were 135th. Below is a quick overview of last week and what’s coming up next this week.
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South Carolina Gamecocks lose to Xavier Musketeers
In the team’s first game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Gamecocks blew a lead against Xavier. Lamont Paris’ team faced some early foul trouble and really struggled to shoot the ball from the arc. Some interesting officiating didn’t help the South Carolina cause.
Collin Murray-Boyles and Nick Pringle were limited to just 47 minutes combined (many of which were played with three or four fouls on their ledgers). The rebounding and post defense needed to win games wasn’t there when the post duo was out.
Despite a halftime lead, the Gamecocks lost by nine and had a double-digit deficit at times. Carolina also posted an abysmal 8-12 assist-turnover ratio for the game.
Result: South Carolina lost 75-66.
South Carolina Gamecocks beat Virginia Tech Hokies
The Gamecocks bounced back with a solid performance against Virginia Tech in the Fort Myers 3rd-place game. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but USC handled business and left Fort Myers with a win.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Bill Belichick
UNC hiring legendary coach
- 2New
Brian Hartline
OSU coach interviews at WVU
- 3
Campbell extension
ISU coach inks deal
- 4
NCAA Tournament
March Madness looking to expand
- 5Trending
Flag planting felony
Ohio politicians get involved
South Carolina shot 32 times from outside and made 11 of those attempts. The Gamecocks also made more than 50% of their shots from 2-point range. Ball security was much better, too, as several of their 10 total turnovers should have been foul calls. Carolina couldn’t pull away against VT, but they built up a solid lead and never relinquished it.
It was a well-rounded effort from the Gamecocks against the Hokies. Of note, reserve big man Jordan Butler scored six points and registered a block in just eight minutes of action. He went 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point line, as well.
Result: South Carolina won 70-60.
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Clemson MBB game]
What’s coming this week for South Carolina basketball
South Carolina once again will play two basketball games this week, one at home and one on the road.
First, the Gamecocks will travel north to Chestnut Hill to play the Boston College Eagles in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The ACC Network will broadcast the Tuesday night game at 7:00 p.m. Fans also can stream the contest on the ESPN app.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, Carolina will return home for a matchup with the East Carolina Pirates. ECU hosted the Gamecocks last year in a closer-than-desired game in Greenville, North Carolina. This year’s contest will be 2:00 p.m. on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
