South Carolina falls in latest AP poll ranking
Coming into last week, there was a lot of optimism about what could become of South Carolina. Ranked No. 11 in the country with two big games on hand. But now a week later, that’s changed a little bit.
The Gamecocks (21-5, 9-4 SEC) dropped in this week’s AP poll down to No. 20.
It wasn’t the best of weeks for South Carolina, who lost both of its games. The Gamecocks went on the road to Auburn last Tuesday and lost 101-61. Granted, the Tigers shot more than 60 percent from the field for the entire game, making it nearly impossible to slow down that offense. But still, a 40-point blowout didn’t look great on the resume.
Then on Saturday, with a chance to bounce back, South Carolina blew a 16-point lead in the second half against LSU. The Tigers came roaring back to win 64-63 in a thriller.
In the NET rankings, South Carolina dropped to No. 58. In KenPom, the Gamecocks are now No. 54.
With their backs up against the wall now, the Gamecocks have five games remaining in the regular season, three of which are on the road. They’ll travel to Ole Miss on Saturday with tip-off at 3:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
‘You got to learn fast’: South Carolina hopes to get back on track after tough week
By: Peyton Butt
For the first time in the 2023-2024 season, South Carolina men’s basketball finds themselves on a two game losing streak. As the season comes down to the wire, does South Carolina have enough time to turn it around?
Despite losing to LSU in a close matchup, there are many lessons to learn moving forward. The Gamecocks were unable to bounce back from the mistakes and certain decisions they were making.
“You only get so many chances,” head coach Lamont Paris said after the game against LSU. “There’s not an infinite amount of chances to do the right thing and at some point you run out of chances and tonight I think we ran out of chances.”
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The good news following the loss is South Carolina has one week without any game action before the head to Oxford, Mississippi. The Gamecocks have a lot to learn from and work through before they face Ole Miss but improvement is possible. A win over Ole Miss would be a major boost of confidence but another loss would be a hard hit.
“You got to learn fast,” Paris said. “There’s lessons to be taught and from winning and from losing and so the only real travesty about this game will be if you don’t learn something from it. There’ll be some learning for sure but I think it’s more about doing.”
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Once in contention for the SEC regular season championship, South Carolina now finds themselves ranked No. 3 in the SEC. Also, there is a major possibility that their current No. 11 ranking in the AP poll will go down as well.
Two losses are definitely a bump in the road to overcome for South Carolina. But in-order to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks need to keep winning games. Under the coaching of Paris, South Carolina still has a very good chance to end this season on a high note.
“The goal is to win so going into practice, going into the film room just making sure we are all locked in and ready,” BJ Mack said.
