Gamecocks battle Vanderbilt to overtime but can’t seal the deal in SEC opener
The first SEC game of the Lamont Paris Era was a loss for South Carolina.
Traveling to Nashville to take on Jerry Stackhouse’s Vanderbilt men, the Gamecocks fell to the Commodores 84-79 in a nail-biting, back-and-forth affair.
USC forced overtime with a last-second layup by veteran forward Hayden Brown with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, but the Commodores (8-6, 1-0 SEC) pulled ahead in overtime.
The win snapped a two-game winning streak for the Gamecocks (7-7, 0-1), who capped off non-conference play with home wins against a quality Western Kentucky team and an Eastern Michigan squad led by top prospect
The schedule will immediately ramp up in difficulty for the Gamecocks, who will host a top 10 Tennessee team on Saturday before traveling to Kentucky.
Here’s what we learned from the USC loss.
Tough battle inside
The Gamecocks had their hands full with 7-foot fifth-year senior Liam Robbins, who entered the game as Vanderbilt’s leading scorer.
Post play has been an issue for much of the season for the Gamecocks with big men Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk and Josh Gray struggling to impact games and stay on the floor. Bosmans-Verdonk once again ran into foul trouble for the Gamecocks, committing his third and fourth fouls early in the second half.
As a result, Robbins had a smaller, more guard-heavy USC lineup with which to contend, and he took advantage. Often matched up against the 6-foot-5 Brown in the post, Robbins scored 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting and stuffed the stat sheet with seven rebounds, six blocks and four assists.
For the Gamecocks, star freshman GG Jackson picked up the slack on the boards. He entered the game as USC’s leading rebounder on the season, and he continued the trend with seven rebounds. He added another double-digit scoring day (13 points) to his resume and is the only freshman in the country to score in double digits in every game played.
Carter Jr. sizzles from 3
Veteran guard Chico Carter Jr. — a mainstay at starting shooting guard — got off to an electric start from the perimeter, making two early 3-pointers and scoring eight of USC’s first 10 points.
The former Cardinal Newman standout finished the first half with three made 3-pointers and a team-high 11 points, pacing the Gamecocks in a first-half 3-point shootout. Carter entered the game as USC’s leading 3-point shooter, with 26 made on 52 attempts (50%).
Carter kept cooking in the second half, adding another 14 points and a 3-pointer. With a free throw in overtime, Carter finished with a game-high 26 points — one off his career high.
Lack of depth for USC
Outside of Carter and Jackson, the Gamecocks found little consistent offensive production from any other scorer on the floor.
Carter and Jackson combined to score 21 of the team’s 32 points in the first half. In the second, USC received better production from point guard Meechie Johnson (9 points) and Brown (7 points), but there was nowhere else USC could turn on its roster for scoring.
A perfect illustration: Vanderbilt produced 61 points off its bench, compared with just 10 bench points from USC.
Next four USC MBB games
Saturday: vs. Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 10: at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Jan. 14: vs. Texas A&M, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 16: vs. Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Gamecocks battle Vanderbilt to overtime but can’t seal the deal in SEC opener."
