South Carolina runs away with blowout win in exhibition against Paris' alma mater

The game was never in doubt, even before the opening tip-off. Not when South Carolina, fresh off a 26-win season, was facing a Division III school that just so happened to be Lamont Paris’ alma mater.

Before the regular season starts on Monday, the Gamecocks took the floor for an exhibition game against Wooster and earned an 86-60 win on Wednesday.

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How it happened

This was a pretty tight game in the early going with South Carolina unable to consistently connect on its shots and Wooster seemingly hitting most shots it took. At multiple points in the first half, the Gamecocks were playing from behind, but they eventually picked up the pace.

After the Scots went ahead by three points with 10:18 to go, South Carolina went on a 12-0 run and held them scoreless for more than five minutes.

But even with some separation created, Wooster continued to play well. Last year’s leading scorer Ashton Price hit a deep three-pointer as the shot clock expired and then hit a layup to trim the deficit down to three with under five minutes to play before the break.

By this point, though, the shots were starting to come in bunches for the Gamecocks as they got their lead back up to double digits and led by 12 at the half. While they were shooting 52.9 percent from the field, they were much worse from three-point range at 27.8 percent and 33.3 percent on free throws.

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Much like at the start of the first half, South Carolina came out of halftime looking very sloppy. Wooster opened with an immediate 8-0 run to get the lead back down to single digits. The Scots got back to being down by two points within four minutes after coming out hot.

In his first real action as a Gamecock, Arden Conyers started to light it up and couldn’t be stopped. After a Myles Stute made three, the redshirt freshman guard knocked down four straight shots, including a trio of threes.

In a game like this, where there was always going to be a clear difference in the talent level, the team with more talent eventually started to play that way. South Carolina went on a nice run where it outscored Wooster 26-6 over an eight-minute stretch to take a commanding lead.

The Gamecocks had four players finish with double-digit points in this game. Collin Murray-Boyles led the way with 19 points. He also hauled in 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Conyers and Cam Scott both finished with 16 points. Coming in as the first player off the bench, Jacobi Wright had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting with two threes.

Two observations

Don’t look too much into this game—At the end of the day, this is just an exhibition game. Just because it wasn’t a perfect night for the Gamecocks doesn’t mean this game will be a tell-tell of how the season will go. Let’s not forget, South Carolina was trailing by double digits at the half in last year’s exhibition game against Wofford. The Gamecocks ended up winning that one by three and then went on to have a record-breaking season. Not saying the same will happen but it’s important to put everything into perspective.

Good night for the youngsters—Replacing the veterans from last year’s team was always going to be a tall order. It’s just one game but some of the younger guys looked solid in their time on the floor. Conyers played extremely well as he finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Scott, making his college debut, went for 16 points, though he did it on 5-of-12 shooting. He let it rip from deep and knocked down three triples.

Key stat

51 bench points—South Carolina didn’t need to have its regular starters play the entire game. If it did, that would be a bit more concerning. But even when the game was close, the bench players were able to come in make an impact. All but three players for the Gamecocks scored on the night.

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Turning point

While Wooster gave its best shot and played a relatively competitive game, it wouldn’t be enough to slow down an SEC team like South Carolina. The Gamecocks, who were only up by two at one point in the second half, pulled away and went on an 26-6 run to widen the gap and pick up the win.

Up next

South Carolina will officially open the 2024-25 regular season at home against North Florida on Monday, Nov. 4. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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