South Carolina will aim to snap a two-game slide as the Gamecocks face Furman on Sunday morning in their final game at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
The Gamecocks (2-2) lost their opening game of the tournament to Colorado State on Thursday, and then lost to Davidson, 69-60, on Friday. Chico Carter Jr. led South Carolina with a season-high 26 points against Davidson, but the Gamecocks turned the ball over 16 times, which the Wildcats turned into 14 points.
South Carolina also missed five free throws and was outshot by Davidson from distance; the Gamecocks made six 3-pointers compared to nine from the Wildcats.
Despite the second straight loss, first-year South Carolina coach Lamont Paris was pleased with his team’s effort.
“Our overall level of competitiveness, right from the get-go, I thought was much higher,” Paris said. “I didn’t have any problem with that, about how we went about our business today, other than that we turned the ball over a lot. And we didn’t perform well offensively. Had some guys with some rough shooting days.”
South Carolina played without junior guard Meechie Johnson, who was wearing a boot on his right foot in pregame warmups. Paris said he’s not sure if Johnson will play Sunday. The Ohio State transfer started each of the Gamecocks’ three previous games, averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 assists per game.
Furman (2-2) lost to Penn State in Thursday’s tournament opener and then fell to Old Dominion on Friday.
In the 82-77 loss to ODU, the Paladins were led by 23 points from Mike Bothwell and 20 points from JP Pegues. Old Dominion outrebounded Furman by 14 and outscored the Paladins in the paint by 10.
Bothwell and Jalen Slawson — who had 15 points and four assists against ODU — both returned to Furman this season after going through the initial NBA Draft process last offseason.
“It was pretty clear that they both wanted to come back,” Furman coach Bob Richey told SB Nation recently. “We were excited to have them back. I love those two kids like my own.”
–Field Level Media