South Carolina battles back against Ole Miss but falls short in 11th-straight loss

South Carolina came awfully close to finally getting over the hump. But the quest for the first conference win will have to wait a few more days.

In what proved to be a back-and-forth affair, the Gamecocks took No. 19 Ole Miss down to the wire, just like they had many times before during their 10-game losing streak. But they fell short again, this time coming in a 72-68 loss on Wednesday night.

South Carolina (10-14, 0-11 SEC) has tied its program record for consecutive SEC losses, set in 1991-92, its first season in the conference.

“It’s difficult to know what to say to the guys to connect, because it’s frustrating for me, but more than frustration I feel a sense of empathy for them and what they’re going through,” head coach Lamont Paris said.

How it happened

Ole Miss came into Wednesday’s game shooting roughly 44.7 percent from the field and averaging 75.4 points per game in SEC play. Both middle-of-the-pack numbers in a conference in one of the best seasons ever. Safe to say that those statistics bumped up slightly after the first-half showing the team put together.

The Rebels went 15-for-23 from the floor, good for 65.2 percent, which was a slightly higher number for a good portion of the first half. But they went the final 2:22 before halftime without a point to bring their shooting percentage down a hair. Ole Miss also went 6-for-9 from three-point range and couldn’t seem to miss.

Despite how well the Rebels were shooting as a team, South Carolina managed to hang around in the first half. The deficit continuously fluctuated from double digits back down to single digits and vice versa. Even though the Gamecocks weren’t shooting too bad, going 11-for-25 at a 44 percent rate, it was only enough to make it a 10-point game going into the break.

Midway through the first half, things became chippy between both sides. Ole Miss’ Mikeal Brown-Jones was called for a foul while guarding Jamarii Thomas. With the two going up against each other, Brown-Jones put his arms around Thomas’ upper shoulder/neck area, which South Carolina didn’t seem to take kindly to.

Despite how the incident looked on the floor, the officials called it a common foul after review. They’d also issue technical fouls to Brown-Jones as well as Zachary Davis when the players were shouting back and forth after the play. It ended up being a foul-heavy first half with 20 fouls in total called.

“I was told that it was a common foul and there was a technical foul on one of (Ole Miss’) players and then we retaliated in a way that gave us a technical foul,” Paris said on the explanation he received from the officials. “But again, these guys are competitors. I think in a retaliatory situation, there should be a little leeway as to, ‘Did I punch you in the eye ball? Is that my retaliation? Well, you don’t get any slack cut. Did I say something to you after you put me in a headlock?’ I think we probably have to let that one go in those situations.”

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South Carolina crawled its way back into making it a game, cutting the lead down to four by the 13-minute mark of the second half. This was due in part to Ole Miss not shooting the lights out right away — the Rebels made three of their first 10 shots out of the break.

The Gamecocks weren’t shooting any better to start, going an identical 3-for-10 from the field. But they were doing a good job of forcing Ole Miss to foul, thus sending them to the free throw line plenty. Within the first 10 minutes, they had gone 10-of-14 on their attempts.

With Ole Miss having severely cooled off after its strong first half, South Carolina took the lead back with 6:45 left to go in the midst of a 6-0 run. During this time, the Rebels were in a drought, only making one for their last 10 shots.

The game remained tight the rest of the way with both teams going back and forth with the lead changing. However, Ole Miss took back the lead for good after South Carolina left Malik Dia open at the top of the key for a go-ahead three-pointer with two minutes to go.

In the final seconds, the Gamecocks had their chance to try and tie the game. But Zachary Davis’ pass underneath the basket to Jamarii Thomas went out of bounds for his fourth turnover of the night.

Two observations

The fight continues to be there—For as tough as this stretch has been on the Gamecocks, they haven’t always looked like a winless team in conference play. While there have been a few blowout losses, they’ve given teams a good battle, especially when the games are at home. That proved to be the case again on Wednesday. But just like every time where they’ve come close, they came up short again in the end.

Another close loss—Of South Carolina’s 11 losses in SEC play, this is now the sixth time in which the team lost by five or less points. The margin for error in this conference has proven to be razor thin, and that was the case again with Ole Miss making the plays when it mattered most.

Key stat

20-of-32—Once again, South Carolina was inconsistent when it went to the free throw line on Wednesday. And it proved to be a difference maker in what was a four-point loss. The Gamecocks shot 62.5 percent at the line and missed 12 free throws.

“All these games are just us. These teams are playing their asses off, and we are too,” Murray-Boyles said. “But it just really comes down to the internal, what we have going on. Like today, we just missed free throws. Missed 12 free throws. That’s the game right there. If we can convert on six of those 12, eight of those 12, it would be a whole different game.”

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Turning point

With a little over two minutes left, Ole Miss’ Malik Dia was left open near the top of the key and sank a three-pointer, which gave the Rebels the lead for the rest of the game.

Up next

South Carolina will be back on the road and travel to take on No. 3 Florida in Gainesville on Saturday. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

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