South Carolina falls to Furman, goes winless in Charleston Classic

Last season at Chattanooga, Lamont Paris went a perfect 3-0 against Bob Richey and Furman, including a buzzer-beater win in the SoCon Challenge that led him ultimately to South Carolina.

In those three wins Paris’s team held Furman to 63.3 points per game while the Paladins shot 44 percent from the field. The Gamecocks didn’t get so lucky Sunday.

South Carolina lost 79-60 to Furman in the Charleston Classic to go winless in this year’s MTE while Furman shot over 50 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three.

“We just did not perform down here at this tournament like we wanted to. It wasn’t like there was an expectation. I wanted to see what it was like in a tournament atmosphere with a quick turnaround on these things against good teams. There are good teams in here,” Paris said.

“To come in here with the group we have and play some guys who believe they’re going to win, they know the pathway to winning and know how to stick to a plan even when it gets a little wobbly, we were in a disadvantage in that area relative to the three teams we played. Today was another one of those games.”

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How it happened

The Gamecocks got off to a good start, jumping out to a seven-point lead five minutes into the game. But things quickly changed thanks to 19-2 Furman run. South Carolina went scoreless for nearly six minutes of game time and turned the ball over five times. 

South Carolina would shoot 44.9 percent from the field. But that long scoreless drought and 17 total turnovers that led to 23 Furman points made things too tough to overcome for the Gamecocks. 

“We have to figure out a way to play more effectively defensively, have more of a commitment to it each guy individually,” Paris said. “Just getting better at it individually–guarding the ball, adhering to rules.

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 GG Jackson had a great performance, finishing with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting and was the best player on the floor for South Carolina. Chico Carter, after a 26-point performance Friday night, followed it up with 17 more Sunday. 

The issue was outside of those two the Gamecocks combined for just 24 points and made just seven shots on 23 attempts.

South Carolina couldn’t hold onto the ball. It couldn’t get into the open court enough to convert and it ultimately led to a dismal result in Charleston. 

In a matchup of old Southern Conference coaching foes dating back to Lamont Paris’s time at Chattanooga, Richey came out victorious. 

Paris falls back on his defensive performances from last season, mentioning he thinks Furman was better offensively last year compared to early in the 2022-23 season. And that certainly has to get better.

“It’s not about what we’re doing. It’s about our real commitment to sticking to principles and ability to stick to principles, ability to listen carefully and take that information to the game,” Paris said. “Our ability to cast aside what you’re doing offensively and devote yourself–what a word there–to the defensive side of the basketball. That’s hard for young men to do. We have a lot of guys who are learning how to win.” 

Two observations

This team will have plenty of growing pains–There’s no way to sugarcoat a disappointing three-game stretch. The Gamecocks played three good, but albeit mid-major opponents, and came away without a win. This is still a team breaking in an entirely new system no one on the roster has played in before with a focal point that’s 17. South Carolina didn’t play its best basketball, but this is a season where growing pains were expected. 

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South Carolina will have to make its own luck–The Gamecocks aren’t a good enough team right to expect them to consistently execute in the half-court possession after possession. This team will have to do things like get to the free throw line, get into the open court and make threes. The Gamecocks didn’t do any of those things to the level needed Sunday. 

Key stat

23 and 4–South Carolina forced 12 turnovers and only came away with four points. Furman had 23 points off 17 Gamecock miscues. That’s a plus-19 advantage for the Paladins in a game decided by 19 points.

 “At the end of the day, some of it is the ability to throw and complete a pass to the same intended target you had. Some of it is that. We talked a little bit about what they do defensively. They really help to the ball and you have to play out of the backside and throw skips. We’ve been talking about throwing skip passes all season,” Paris said.

“On their own, once every couple of games they’ll throw a single skip pass. In this type of game, you have to do that. They’re going to load up to the ball side, they’re going to help and you have to play out of the backside some. You have to make those decisions quickly. If you don’t they recover. That’s what happened a couple of times. Other times it’s pure sloppiness with the ball.”

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Turning point

That stretch in the first half that included a 15-0 run from Furman where the Gamecocks turned the ball over five times and went scoreless for 5:30 doomed this team. South Carolina played a relatively even game outside of that stretch, which was just too much to overcome. The Gamecocks were playing from behind the rest of the way. 

Up next

South Carolina has a few days off before hosting USC Upstate on Black Friday. The game tips at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network Plus.

Click for Sunday’s box score.

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