South Carolina routs George Washington to stay unbeaten

Around this time last year, South Carolina took a trip up to the nation’s capital and took a beating. The Gamecocks lost to George Washington by 24 points, earning their fourth loss in seven games.

A lot has changed since then.

In the seventh game of this season, South Carolina picked up a 89-67 win over the Revolutionaries. The win puts it at 7-0 on the year.

“What a group of guys this is to rally behind,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “There should be some build up, there should be some real palpable excitement around this group of guys and this team with what they’re doing and how they’re playing right now.”

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How it happened

South Carolina had a strong first half and a lot of it started with some strong shooting. It seemed Meechie Johnson didn’t miss a beat after a career-high 29-point outing on Tuesday. He got the Gamecocks rolling with a few quick threes.

In a matter of a few minutes, South Carolina already led by double digits. However, the Revolutionaries managed to cut the deficit back down to six points.

But as George Washington inched close to making it a game, the Gamecocks answered back and moved in front by double digits again. The Revolutionaries’ strong opening slowly fizzled out as they finished the half shooting 36 percent from the floor. They only made two of their final 10 shots.

As a result, South Carolina owned the final few minutes before the half and led by 10 at the break. The Gamecocks shot 51 percent from the floor and 8-for-16 (50 percent) from behind the arc. They were able to get a lot of open looks from some good passing and rebounds.

“If I have a good look but someone else might have a better look, just having that faith in them and confidence in them to know that they’re going to make that shot,” BJ Mack said.

Out of the break, George Washington got off to a good start and cut the lead back down to six before Mack sank a wide-open three out on an island. But when the Gamecocks tried to go on a run, the Revolutionaries kept answering back to keep it close.

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George Washington got some strong play from one of its better shooters, Darren Buchanan Jr., who led the team with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

But midway through the half, the difference in talent started to show. South Carolina asserted itself with an 14-0 run to jump out to a game-high 20-point lead. Meanwhile, the Revolutionaries were struggling to get much going. They went on a scoring drought that lasted more than four minutes.

After that, it was nearly impossible for George Washington to climb back into it. The Gamecocks created too much separation. They finished shooting 50 percent from the floor and knocked down a school record 18 three-pointers. They also only had three turnovers on the night.

“We’re equipped to stop or change some things if we’re not making threes. But we were making shots,” Paris said. “At one point it was like, we’re in transition, Meechie was wide-open right across from the bench and it was like, just fling it. And it went in. So you’ve got to keep shooting when you’re feeling like that. The guys felt really good and it was contagious.”

Two observations

Making the extra pass—It’s an underrated part of college basketball, but South Carolina dished the ball around a lot on Friday, which worked out well. Instead of taking a shot, the Gamecocks found more open looks by making an extra pass or two.

Everybody eats—The great thing about this team is how many shooters can be on the floor at once, and good ones at that. South Carolina had three players finish with double-digit points. And it led to a solid night of shooting. Just shows this team can be a problem come SEC play if things are clicking.

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Key stat

18—It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. It could even be the ’97 Chicago Bulls. It’s going to be extremely hard to beat a team that makes 18 three-pointers. South Carolina had its bread and butter working on Friday night, shooting 51.4 percent from behind the arc.

Turning point

When it looked like George Washington might be onto something in the second half, the Gamecocks went on a massive 14-0 run to change the complexion of the game and run away with a dominant win.

RELATED: South Carolina-George Washington box score

Up next

South Carolina will have a few days off before starting a two-game road trip. The Gamecocks will head to the Upstate and face Clemson next Wednesday at 8 p.m. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. on ACC Network. If the Tigers can beat Pitt on Sunday, both teams will be undefeated heading into the rivalry matchup.

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