USC MBB survives shooting slump to get past The Citadel. What we learned
Between a stretch of three top-100 NET opponents in four games and a road trip to face rival Clemson, South Carolina men’s basketball scheduled two tune-up games against Stetson on Dec. 6 and The Citadel at home Saturday night.
The Gamecocks (7-3) handled business Saturday despite a slow start, defeating The Citadel 71-55 to finish the short home stretch 2-0. USC exchanged leads eight times in the first half with the Bulldogs (3-8) and trailed by four points, but the Gamecocks went on a 15-4 run to close the half and never relinquished the lead again.
“Let’s not have anyone be fooled by the fact that the final margin was 16. I hope that there’s nobody looking at it and think that maybe it was 25 at one point, and then it ended up 16,” USC head coach Lamont Paris said. “This was the closest 16-point game that I think I’ve ever been around.”
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Inside-out offense
South Carolina has had some slow shooting starts this season, and Saturday was just the latest instance. USC’s cold streak almost ran long enough to buy a drink. The Gamecocks missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts in the first half, and started 0 for 7 in the second half.
Myles Stute knocked down the first USC 3-pointer of the game on its 20th attempt with 9:20 left. The Gamecocks finished 3 for 23 from 3-point range Saturday — and made three of the final four attempts.
“We’ve had a multitude of guys that were not ready to play today. It’s a one-off, maybe, hopefully,” Paris said. “I know how on game day you can not play well, I do know that. I don’t know how you cannot be ready to play on game day when this is a limited-time offer, college basketball. I got news for you. It’s a limited-time offer.”
While it’s concerning to see USC struggling from beyond the arc, watching it adjust against The Citadel provided some relief. The Gamecocks shot 40.6% from the floor overall in the first half, and finished the game with 42 points in the paint.
“They have a lot of bodies in the paint, and so again, the way they were guarding us, you were susceptible to getting some looks from three, and we weren’t making them at all,” Paris said. “So then we did start really encouraging driving the ball. … It’s good to be able to have the chance to do that, and have some guys that would do that.”
Paint protection
While USC’s interior offense was a positive in the win, the defense still needs work. The Gamecocks gave up quality looks inside, particularly in the first half, and couldn’t stay out of foul trouble (16 total). That helped The Citadel outshoot USC in the first half with a 45.8% shooting percentage and score 32 points in the paint in the game.
Citadel guard Carter Kingsbury, who’s averaging six points per game this season, finished 8 for 14 with 18 points. Luckily for USC, the Bulldogs shot just 55% from the free-throw line.
“The first points he got were two he just drove right past us, Jordan Butler, as if he had concrete boots on for a layup, and then he backdoors against Myles for layup, and that’s six of his first whatever,” Paris said. “So anyone’s going to feel good at that point.”
Meechie’s milestone
In a night of offensive struggles for USC, senior guard and leading scorer Meechie Johnson did what he could to lead the Gamecocks. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting Saturday, including 14 in the second half as USC pulled away.
With the performance, Johnson surpassed 1,000 career points as a Gamecock.
“At the end of the day, I couldn’t be able to do this if I didn’t have good teammates and coaches who believed in me. There were times where I probably wasn’t getting open. They was finding me, getting me great looks,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t just me. It was everybody. Everybody can’t get that 1,000, so I just appreciate everybody who played a part and that helped me get there.”
South Carolina men’s basketball upcoming games
- Tuesday: at Clemson, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Dec. 22: vs. S.C. State, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Dec. 30: vs. Albany, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 3: vs. Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
This story was originally published December 13, 2025 at 8:57 PM with the headline "USC MBB survives shooting slump to get past The Citadel. What we learned."
