South Carolina Collapses in Second Half, Extends SEC Losing Streak to 12 Games
GAINESVILLE, FL – Another road game, another second-half collapse. South Carolina entered halftime trailing Florida by just four points, but a disastrous start to the second half doomed the Gamecocks in an 88-67 loss on Saturday night. The defeat marks a new program low, setting a record for consecutive SEC losses as Lamont Paris’ squad falls to 0-12 in conference play.
The Gamecocks’ Perimeter Woes Continue
Shooting struggles have haunted South Carolina all season, and Saturday was no different. The Gamecocks managed just 12 three-point attempts, making only four. That’s the second time in three games USC has failed to attempt more than 15 shots from beyond the arc. In modern basketball, that’s a recipe for disaster—especially against an offensive juggernaut like Florida.
“It’s nearly impossible to win when you only hit four threes,” Paris admitted postgame.
The contrast was glaring. Florida launched 28 threes, hitting 14—good for 50%. The Gators outscored South Carolina 42-12 from deep, a gap that proved insurmountable.
Turnovers and Rebounding: A Recipe for Disaster
South Carolina turned the ball over 13 times, which might not seem excessive, but it was the nature of those giveaways that hurt the most. Eleven of them were live-ball turnovers, giving Florida easy transition opportunities.
The rebounding battle didn’t fare much better. While Collin Murray-Boyles, Nick Pringle, and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk had their moments, Florida seemed to win nearly every 50-50 ball. Missed opportunities on the glass turned into second-chance points for the Gators, who finished with eight second-chance points and 26 fast-break points.
The Fatal Second-Half Run
Despite a strong effort in the first half, South Carolina’s season-long trend of allowing crushing runs reared its ugly head again. The opening 7:26 of the second half proved to be the decisive stretch, as Florida erupted on a 24-7 run. Six of the Gators’ makes in that span came from three-point range, many of them wide open.
“The whole complexion of the game changes if we just cut down the turnovers, cut down the open looks,” Paris said. “But we weren’t able to do that, and they made us pay.”
South Carolina’s Bigs Struggle Inside
While Murray-Boyles and Pringle had their moments offensively, they were overmatched in the paint. The duo combined for just five rebounds in 51 minutes while struggling to defend against Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu, who outrebounded them 12-5 and combined to shoot 11-for-16 from the field.
Despite a solid showing at the free-throw line (12-for-14), South Carolina’s frontcourt wasn’t aggressive enough in the paint, attempting just 13 total field goals.
South Carolina: Close, But Not Quite There
Perhaps the most frustrating part of South Carolina’s season is that they’re not that far off from breaking through. The issue? The cause of their struggles keeps changing.
One night, it’s turnovers. Another, it’s cold shooting. Against Florida, it was a mix of both—compounded by a second-half defensive meltdown. Paris, however, is tired of hearing about being “close.”
“I hate the ‘oh, we were close,’” he said. “Nah, forget that. We should have beat Florida the first time we played them… We’ve been in really good situations against really good teams multiple times. We just haven’t been able to get over the hump.”
With just a handful of regular-season games remaining, the Gamecocks will have to put together a full 40 minutes if they want to avoid a winless SEC campaign. Next up? A road trip to LSU on Tuesday night.
Can they finally break through, or will the skid continue?
