Saturday had all the ingredients for another memorable upset at Colonial Life Arena.
Packed house. Gray uniforms. Gritty play from the Gamecocks. Mistakes from the opponent.
Unfortunately, that garnet magic couldn't last for the full 40 minutes.
South Carolina led the Volunteers 46-43 with 9:18 to play in the game, but suddenly went cold from the field. The Gamecocks made just one field goal (a three-pointer by Devan Downey) over the next seven minutes, allowing Tennessee to pull away for the 63-55 win.
"We came into this game knowing it'd be tough because of Tennessee's talent," said South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn. "We wanted to put ourselves in position to be there in the last five minutes to make some plays and win the game. But we had a stretch where we didn't score at all and had some turnovers that led to [Tennessee] baskets. We didn't make enough plays when we had to."
South Carolina's issues with depth and experience on the court make every play crucial when playing quality opponents like the Volunteers.
"We're not in a position where we can have those kind of lapses against this kind of team," said Horn.
The Gamecocks shot 9-for-30 (30%) in the second half and 20-for-63 (31.7%) overall.
"We took some great shots today, but just had a bunch that didn't go in," said Horn.
"It was just one of those cases where shots just weren't falling," said Downey. "Shots weren't falling, but this team is going to keep fighting. That's one thing we're not going to stop doing."
Key Box Score
On an afternoon when the league's leading scorer was struggling to get his shots to fall, Raley-Ross helped shoulder the scoring load. The senior guard scored in double figures for the fifth straight game, shooting 50% from the field.
Key Quote
"We're going to keep playing. We need to move forward in a way that we understand we're building a program regardless of how games turn out. And that's going to be the case whether it's five years from now or if we were undefeated right now, that's going to continue to be the focus." - Darrin Horn
Packed house. Gray uniforms. Gritty play from the Gamecocks. Mistakes from the opponent.
Unfortunately, that garnet magic couldn't last for the full 40 minutes.
South Carolina led the Volunteers 46-43 with 9:18 to play in the game, but suddenly went cold from the field. The Gamecocks made just one field goal (a three-pointer by Devan Downey) over the next seven minutes, allowing Tennessee to pull away for the 63-55 win.
"We came into this game knowing it'd be tough because of Tennessee's talent," said South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn. "We wanted to put ourselves in position to be there in the last five minutes to make some plays and win the game. But we had a stretch where we didn't score at all and had some turnovers that led to [Tennessee] baskets. We didn't make enough plays when we had to."
South Carolina's issues with depth and experience on the court make every play crucial when playing quality opponents like the Volunteers.
"We're not in a position where we can have those kind of lapses against this kind of team," said Horn.
The Gamecocks shot 9-for-30 (30%) in the second half and 20-for-63 (31.7%) overall.
"We took some great shots today, but just had a bunch that didn't go in," said Horn.
"It was just one of those cases where shots just weren't falling," said Downey. "Shots weren't falling, but this team is going to keep fighting. That's one thing we're not going to stop doing."
Key Box Score
| Total FG-FGA | 3 pt FG-FGA | FT-FTA | Rebs | Pts | Assts | TO | Blk | Stl | Min | |
| G Brandis Raley-Ross | 5-10 | 2-6 | 4-7 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 38 |
On an afternoon when the league's leading scorer was struggling to get his shots to fall, Raley-Ross helped shoulder the scoring load. The senior guard scored in double figures for the fifth straight game, shooting 50% from the field.
Key Quote
"We're going to keep playing. We need to move forward in a way that we understand we're building a program regardless of how games turn out. And that's going to be the case whether it's five years from now or if we were undefeated right now, that's going to continue to be the focus." - Darrin Horn
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