USC men’s basketball keeps dropping close games. What is the problem?
The Gamecocks keep losing close games.
South Carolina men’s basketball is 5-3 so far, but those three losses come from USC’s only top-100 NET opponents this season. The most recent loss was against Virginia Tech on Dec. 2, but the quality of opponent isn’t the only commonality between the three. The Gamecocks have also dropped all three games in close fashion, with an average margin of defeat of four points.
Why is USC dropping the ball in winnable games? Is it a finishing problem? Gamecock head coach Lamont Paris doesn’t seem to think so.
“You’re obviously not finishing the game with the basketball plays. Sometimes it does come down to that. But more importantly to me, I think these games are closer than what they should be,” he said after USC’s 86-83 loss to the Hokies. “I just don’t think they should have been in the situation they were if we can get better at making some decisions that lead up to that.”
Decisions throughout a game can mean any number of things. But the problem, if not late-game performance, might be simple: The Gamecocks can’t find their shooting rhythm early. Paris defines efficient 3-point shooting as one point per possession, or about a 33.3% shooting percentage.
The Gamecocks’ early-game shooting
The Gamecocks are shooting 31.4% on 3-pointers this season and shot 27.8% in their three losses, just below Paris’ minimum efficiency, but they still rallied late in each loss. The real issue comes from USC’s shooting to start games.
On the first 10 3-pointers in each of USC’s losses, the team shot 4-10 and 2-for-10 twice, or 26.7% overall. This allows USC’s opponents to take large leads early, with an average largest lead of 12.3 in three losses. Even as the Gamecocks find their rhythm and rally late, the slow starts leave USC with no time to catch up or puts extra pressure on late-game situations — the Gamecocks couldn’t get a last shot up in time against Virginia Tech and eventually lost in overtime.
“There’s playing well, which is to do the things that you planned on doing. This is what scouting report says, we did all those things, we played well,” Paris said. “I’m standing there in the corner, I get a wide open shot, I make it. That’s performing well. I miss it, that’s not performing well, right? And so I don’t think we performed particularly well, but we played well enough offensively.”
Performing well as shooters, as Paris puts it, has nothing to do with the decision of shooting the ball. The decision has already been made. Paris is adamant his team will keep shooting 3-pointers through this slump.
“We’re going to shoot threes. We’ve got to make them. We’re going to get them, we don’t force them. Just the way we’re built, we’re going to shoot threes. We need to make a good percentage,” Paris said. “We’re going to play the way we play. We’re going to continue to generate offense by way of the three.”
USC faces its lowest-ranked NET opponent of the season, the 3-7 Stetson Hatters, Saturday. Even during off shooting nights, the Gamecocks have handled business against non-power conference teams. If the early shooting slump continues, even those wins might not be sustainable.
South Carolina men’s basketball’s upcoming schedule
- Saturday: vs. Stetson, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday, Dec. 13: vs. The Citadel, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday, Dec. 16: at Clemson, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Monday, Dec. 22: vs. S.C. State, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 1:16 PM with the headline "USC men’s basketball keeps dropping close games. What is the problem?."
