C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina beat Rider 65-58 to improve to 5-1 on the season.
--It wasn’t pretty, and it was probably the worst South Carolina’s played offensively, but a win is a win and the Gamecocks get a win over a team it might have lost against in previous years. South Carolina weathered the storm and got big contributions late from guys it needs to in order to be successful. A win is a win and the Gamecocks have won four straight for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
--Getting Keyshawn Bryant certainly helped South Carolina and certainly gave the Gamecocks a spark. He was the catalyst for the team closing the first half strong and then was great in the second half in terms of scoring and finishing near the rim. He does so much from an energy and affecting shots standpoint and is just a spark plug. He hit the game-tying three then had a big three-point play late.
--The offense, which had shown signs of improvement in recent games, really struggled and the tough shots the Gamecocks were making against Wofford weren’t falling against Rider. They’d finish shooting 40 percent from the field and just looked sloppy and out of sorts on the offensive end of the floor. The ball would stick and when it did get inside then it would get fumbled. Just far too much ineffective offense and guys just missing shots to establish any offensive flow. Give some credit to Rider because South Carolina never went on a big run until late in the game to pad its lead. Erik Stevenson, who started 0-for-7 from the field, hit a big three late to push the lead to seven.
--South Carolina needed to be better rebounding the ball against a smaller Rider the. The Gamecocks had been a solid rebounding team almost all season but didn’t play like it against the Broncs. The Gamecocks missed 33 shots but only had 14 offensive rebounds (38 total rebounds) compared to Rider’s 13 offensive boards and 37 total rebounds. Getting out-physicaled and having trouble just holding onto the ball coming down with rebounds isn’t a winning formula.
--The Gamecocks need more from their bigs right now, which was a question mark entering the season with so many new faces and there’s been a lot of growing pains there. Wildens Leveque had nine points and AJ Wilson ended with two but South Carolina didn’t get much there and need more as competition stiffens and they play bigger teams. Josh Gray struggled to rebound against this team and there was no energy down low from the big men for long stretches.
Give Leveque a lot of credit though. He played with a lot more strength late in the game and came up with a few big rebounds and a three-point play with Rider chipping away.
--South Carolina did a much better job getting to the line against Rider but need to make shots. South Carolina started 1-for-7 from the line but finished 14-for-19 from the line and hit a few big ones late.
--Give the defense a lot of credit because after starting rough (Rider started 5-for-7 from the field) things really tightened up and the Gamecocks ultimately held them to 36.8 percent shooting and just 5-for-13 from three. They just need to figure out the rebounding issues and it would have been a really solid defensive performance. Rider did help out some with a few costly turnovers and unforced errors.
--South Carolina needs to move the ball on offense and this is not a group of guys who can survive all season without good passing, movement and spacing. Just nine assists on 22 made baskets needs to be better. That starts with point guard play, and Jacobi Wright did some good things from the point guard position. He’s been good the last few games and made some good decisions late in the game as well. He’d finish with four assists and was on the floor in crunch time and plus-19.
--It wasn’t pretty, and it was probably the worst South Carolina’s played offensively, but a win is a win and the Gamecocks get a win over a team it might have lost against in previous years. South Carolina weathered the storm and got big contributions late from guys it needs to in order to be successful. A win is a win and the Gamecocks have won four straight for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
--Getting Keyshawn Bryant certainly helped South Carolina and certainly gave the Gamecocks a spark. He was the catalyst for the team closing the first half strong and then was great in the second half in terms of scoring and finishing near the rim. He does so much from an energy and affecting shots standpoint and is just a spark plug. He hit the game-tying three then had a big three-point play late.
--The offense, which had shown signs of improvement in recent games, really struggled and the tough shots the Gamecocks were making against Wofford weren’t falling against Rider. They’d finish shooting 40 percent from the field and just looked sloppy and out of sorts on the offensive end of the floor. The ball would stick and when it did get inside then it would get fumbled. Just far too much ineffective offense and guys just missing shots to establish any offensive flow. Give some credit to Rider because South Carolina never went on a big run until late in the game to pad its lead. Erik Stevenson, who started 0-for-7 from the field, hit a big three late to push the lead to seven.
--South Carolina needed to be better rebounding the ball against a smaller Rider the. The Gamecocks had been a solid rebounding team almost all season but didn’t play like it against the Broncs. The Gamecocks missed 33 shots but only had 14 offensive rebounds (38 total rebounds) compared to Rider’s 13 offensive boards and 37 total rebounds. Getting out-physicaled and having trouble just holding onto the ball coming down with rebounds isn’t a winning formula.
--The Gamecocks need more from their bigs right now, which was a question mark entering the season with so many new faces and there’s been a lot of growing pains there. Wildens Leveque had nine points and AJ Wilson ended with two but South Carolina didn’t get much there and need more as competition stiffens and they play bigger teams. Josh Gray struggled to rebound against this team and there was no energy down low from the big men for long stretches.
Give Leveque a lot of credit though. He played with a lot more strength late in the game and came up with a few big rebounds and a three-point play with Rider chipping away.
--South Carolina did a much better job getting to the line against Rider but need to make shots. South Carolina started 1-for-7 from the line but finished 14-for-19 from the line and hit a few big ones late.
--Give the defense a lot of credit because after starting rough (Rider started 5-for-7 from the field) things really tightened up and the Gamecocks ultimately held them to 36.8 percent shooting and just 5-for-13 from three. They just need to figure out the rebounding issues and it would have been a really solid defensive performance. Rider did help out some with a few costly turnovers and unforced errors.
--South Carolina needs to move the ball on offense and this is not a group of guys who can survive all season without good passing, movement and spacing. Just nine assists on 22 made baskets needs to be better. That starts with point guard play, and Jacobi Wright did some good things from the point guard position. He’s been good the last few games and made some good decisions late in the game as well. He’d finish with four assists and was on the floor in crunch time and plus-19.
