COLUMBIA, S.C. — The intensity couldn’t have been higher.
Hosting No. 22 Tennessee (16-6, 7-3 SEC) on a national CBS broadcast in front of a rowdy Colonial Life Arena crowd, the South Carolina men’s basketball team brought plenty of its own energy Saturday afternoon. But after playing the Volunteers tightly in a spirited first half, the Gamecocks couldn’t keep up in the second, falling to the Vols, 81-57.
The loss is the second straight for the Gamecocks (13-9, 4-6), who had won three in a row to get to .500 in SEC play. With a home matchup against No. 5 Kentucky looming on Tuesday, the Gamecocks are entering a critical stretch of their season.
Here’s what we learned.
A defensive rock fight
Much like the last meeting between these two teams in Knoxville on Jan. 11, both teams played physical, aggressive defense in a first half that included multiple minutes-long scoring droughts.
The Gamecocks shot just 33% in the first half, struggling to create offensive opportunities against the swarming Vols defense, which ranks eighth in the country in KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric.
After getting off to a sizzling start shooting from the perimeter and making four early 3-pointers, the Vols also slowed down offensively, finishing the half shooting just 38%
But much like the January game in Knoxville, the Gamecocks couldn’t keep up the fight in the second half. South Carolina struggled to create offensive opportunities against Tennessee in the halfcourt, with Martin yelling “Move!” from the sidelines while the Gamecocks looked stagnant.
Tennessee’s James has big game
Saturday was a homecoming of sorts for Tennessee junior guard Josiah-Jordan James, who is a former five-star prospect from Porter-Gaud School in Charleston. James chose Tennessee over offers from in-state schools South Carolina and Clemson.
The burly 6-foot-6, 214-pound guard paced the Vols offense from the opening tip, making three 3-pointers and scoring 15 points in the first half alone. James would finish the game with a career-high 20 points, leading the Vols in scoring.
James led a 3-point-heavy effort for the Vols, which made 14 of 27 (52%) 3-point attempts.
South Carolina frontcourt shorthanded
The Gamecocks were missing 7-foot forward Josh Gray, who broke his wrist against Mississippi State, though still dressed in uniform and was available to play with a cast. Freshman forward Ta’Quan Woodley also didn’t play for the third straight game after the birth of his daughter.
That left the Gamecocks with starting center Wildens Leveque, who continued to struggle of late with zero points Saturday, as well as big man Tre-Vaughn Minott and forward A.J. Wilson.
Wilson led the group with eight points and two blocks, but as a whole the South Carolina frontcourt was ineffective against the Vols, especially on the offensive glass. Tennessee scored 18 second-chance points, compared with just two for the Gamecocks.
