Colonial Life Arena: The USC men’s basketball team has played with fire in their last three games, but the Gamecocks have avoided being burned. Tuesday night against Big South Conference foe Winthrop, the Gamecocks found enough of their game in the final minutes to get away with a 72-62 win.
Since blowing an 11-point lead at Clemson in their only loss on December 6th, the Gamecocks have won by six at East Carolina (NET #249), by four over Charleston Southern (#346) and by ten over Winthrop (#185). Not exactly overwhelming wins over lesser opponents.
The Gamecocks led by five at the half. They pushed the lead to ten with just over 13 minutes to play, then the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to trail 52-50 with 9:16 to play.
The game stayed close until the Gamecocks eventually built the lead back to nine points on a three-pointer by Ta’lon Cooper with 2:29 left. Winthrop could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Meechie Johnson led the Gamecocks with 20 points but was 0-5 from three-point range. He is three for his last 17 from downtown. As a team, the Gamecocks have made just seven of their last 41 three-point attempts.
USC had 18 offensive rebounds they converted into 16 second chance points, and they won the battle in the paint 40-16. KeltonTalford led Winthrop with 20 points.
The Gamecocks are 10-1, just the fifth time in school history they’ve opened a season with ten wins in their first eleven games. They’ve also won seven straight home games. They will continue at hom Friday against Elon.
A win is certainly a win but shooting from the arc has got to improve going into league play. As they say, you live by the 3, you die by the 3. Hopefully they’ll get back on track over the coming 2 weeks or so as far as outside shooting is concerned. Love the win regardless and the defense was very impressive against a very scrappy and competitive Eagles team. Keep it rolling coach P!☺