Zachary Davis impressing on defense in first start of year for South Carolina
When it was announced Myles Stute would be out for a few weeks with a shoulder injury, Lamont Paris got right to work figuring out who would fill his void.
He had some solid options but decided to give Zachary Davis his first start against Arkansas last Saturday. It proved to be the best choice Paris could’ve made.
Mainly matched up against Arkansas guard Tramon Mark, Davis had his work cut out for him. There would be nothing easy about his first start. Mark was coming off a game in which he scored a season-high 35 points and hit a game-winner against Texas A&M a few nights prior.
Through the first 20 minutes, Davis did everything he could to keep Mark in check. His defense carried his play as he only gave up two points.
“I don’t know this for a fact, I was just pulling this out of thin air, but that’s got to be one of Mark’s worst halves,” Paris said. “That first half, he had two points, and a lot of that was when Zach was on him with his length. And Zach did a good job of being discipline and trying to stay in front of the ball as much as he could do. I thought he did a really good job.”
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Mark would finish the game with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting. It was a step back from how dominant he had been. Davis’ defense ultimately helped South Carolina pull off a big 77-64 win on the road.
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“I mean, he just had an amazing game and played really good defense on Marks,” teammate Ta’Lon Cooper said. “He did a really good job. Just being a good defensive player for us and showing off his length.”
In addition to his defense, Davis also played well offensively in that game. He scored a season-best 12 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field. Overall, it hasn’t been a great year of shooting for him. But Paris knows his defense is making the biggest impact.
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“That’s his strength right now,” Paris said. “I mean, I think if someone at the next level called me tomorrow cause they wanted to hire Zach Davis to play, I’m sure they would ask me about who can he guard, what he does defensively. And I think that would be the bulk of the interest.
“So there’s a lot of value to that. He’s a very versatile defender. He’s got some room to grow as an offensive guy. But right now, he can impact the game significantly, and I think you saw it in that last game with his versatility on the defensive side.”
