South Carolina takes down LSU behind solid three-point shooting effort

Despite being down a few players, South Carolina had one of its best performances of the season.

The Gamecocks cruised to an 82-73 win over LSU in Baton Rouge Saturday afternoon, rattling off a season-high in three pointers.

It’s a big momentum builder heading into two of the biggest matchups of the season next week.

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How it happened

Things couldn’t have started better for the Gamecocks (10-17, 3-11 SEC). Shots were falling and the defense was holding strong.

GG Jackson, who made his first start since Feb. 4, hit his first two shots, both three-pointers. Jacobi Wright followed suit with a trio of three-pointers, as well. South Carolina opened the game on a 15-5 run, knocking down its first five shots.

Defensively, the Gamecocks didn’t make it easy for LSU. The Tigers were held scoreless and didn’t score for the first three minutes of play.

South Carolina’s first miss wouldn’t come until more than five minutes into the action. From there, the misses continued to come in bunches. While LSU went on a 10-0 run, the Gamecocks didn’t hit a shot for more than six minutes. On top of that, they turned the ball over 10 times, giving the Tigers all the chances they needed to get back in the game.

Despite struggling as the game rolled on, the Gamecocks held onto its lead for all but 52 seconds. They went into the break leading by five. They shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. It was a much better response compared to an 18-point showing in the first half versus Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

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After starting off slow to open the second half, South Carolina eventually hit a string of shots. It made five straight field goals down the stretch to extend its lead to double-digits.

The three-point parade continued for the Gamecocks. They finished the afternoon shooting 15-for-32 from beyond the arc. It was the most threes made by the team in a single game this season.

Jackson and Meechie Johnson finished with 20 points apiece, combining to make nine of the team’s three-pointers. Wright added five threes of his own to finish with 18 points. In addition, Hayden Brown had one three in the first half, rounding out all the made shots from deep.

LSU hit five of its final seven shots but it didn’t make a difference in the end. South Carolina played some of its best basketball to win by 11.

Two observations

Making it rain from three-point land—South Carolina got off to a great start from the floor, hitting five straight three-pointers. From there, the Gamecocks finished with 15 made threes, the most in a single game this season. Wright, Johnson and Jackson did most of the work, combining for 14 threes. LSU hasn’t been great at defending from beyond the arc, so it was good to see South Carolina exploit that weakness.

Playing an all-around good basketball game—From start to finish, South Carolina was the better team in Baton Rouge. When LSU went on its first half run to cut the lead to one, the Gamecocks didn’t fold. Despite the usual turnovers, they made their shots to play comfortably the rest of the way. For the first time in a while, it felt like they had the game locked down. Give a lot of credit to Lamont Paris for keeping this team motivated to play.

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Key stat

15-for-32—South Carolina had a great day from beyond the arc, hitting 15 three-pointers. It’s the most the Gamecocks have hit in a game this season. Johnson and Wright finished with five threes apiece. The last time South Carolina had two players with at least five threes in the same game was Jan. 24, 2017. Additionally, Jackson added four threes, finishing with 20 points. The last time the Gamecocks had three players with at least four threes each was in 2020 versus Texas A&M. As a result, they were able to roll to an easy win Saturday afternoon.

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Turning point

South Carolina was the better team in the first half, despite LSU fighting back to cut the deficit to one. The Gamecocks started to separate themselves with five consecutive baskets to jump out to a double-digit lead in the second half. From there, they never lost control of the game and finished strong.

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Up next

With a win under its belt, South Carolina heads back home for a date with the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. Wednesday night on ESPN2.

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