Dismal first half dooms South Carolina in Vanderbilt loss

A few days after a streak-snapping win, South Carolina’s tumultuous season took on another loss as the frustration from GG Jackson continued. 

Jackson played just 16 minutes in a 75-64 loss to Vanderbilt Tuesday night. He was benched twice in the second half, untucking his shirt and sitting on the end of the bench each time. 

It’s the latest in a rollercoaster stretch for South Carolina, who struggled early and never could fully recover against the Commodores.

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How it happened

The Gamecocks’ slow starts at home reared their heads again. This time it was in the form of a 15-2 Vanderbilt run after Jacobi Wright started the scoring. 

South Carolina ultimately scored just 18 points in 20 minutes in the first half while shooting just 28.6 percent from the field and 2-for-14 from three. Vanderbilt dominated the glass, out-rebounding South Carolina by 15 in the first half with 12 offensive rebounds. 

To make matters worse, Meechie Johnson went down as the first half ended with what was a lower leg injury while the Gamecocks entered the half down 20. 

Johnson started the second half and the Gamecocks finally got things rolling. South Carolina rattled off an 8-0 run, thanks to a few Vanderbilt turnovers, to trim the lead to 14 just three minutes into the half. 

But it was short-lived. The Gamecocks (9-17, 2-11 SEC) subbed out Hayden Brown and Josh Gray and Vanderbilt immediately answered with an 8-0 run by himself. 

After being benched against Ole Miss, Jackson was again in the second half. He left the huddle during a timeout and untucked his shirt. Jackson sat for five minutes of game time before checking back into the game.

He played sparingly after that, checking back out and untucking his shirt again.  

The Gamecocks would make things somewhat interesting late, whittling things down to just an 11-point deficit with just over three minutes to play.

They were able to shrink the lead thanks to 19 second-half points from Johnson. The point guard shot 5-for-11 from the field after his leg injury. But it ultimately wasn’t enough with Vanderbilt able to keep things at arm’s length down the stretch.

South Carolina was never able to get over the hump, getting things down to nine points with just 34.1 seconds left.

The Gamecocks averaged 101.6 points per 100 possessions against a Vanderbilt defense allowing 115.6 per 100 in 12 SEC games. They averaged just 60 in the first half.  

South Carolina, comparatively, allowed 119 points per 100 possessions Tuesday night. 

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Two observations

South Carolina needs to figure things out with GG Jackson–This is the second straight game where Jackson sat for very long stretches. He had another dust-up coming out of a timeout. Jackson removed himself from the huddle in the second half, taking off his wrist tape and untucking his shirt. He did check back in the game but didn’t have much of an impact. South Carolina has to figure out a way to maximize what’s left of this season, with or without Jackson on the floor.

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Slow starts once again an issue–The Gamecocks have to find ways to start better to keep themselves in games. It’s been an issue all season, and Vanderbilt jumped out to a double-digit lead early and never looked back. South Carolina allowed far too many rebounds and rushed too many shots offensively in the first half. Things were better out of halftime but it was too little too late. 

Key stat

48 to 34–Vanderbilt dominated the glass, out-rebounding South Carolina by 14 Tuesday night. The Gamecocks allowed Vanderbilt to rebound 47.5 percent of its misses for 22 second-chance points. Of the team’s 24 rebounds, Josh Gray had 12.

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Turning point

South Carolina had all of the momentum coming out of halftime, whittling things down to a 14-point deficit thanks to an 8-0 run. But Brown turned the ball over in transition. He and Josh Gray checked out of the game. Then Vanderbilt immediately responded with an 8-0 run to squash any comeback attempt. 

Up next

South Carolina hits the road for a quick one-game road trip, traveling to LSU Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the SEC Network.

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