USC improved mistakes from season-opening loss. How growing pains led to first win

Coach Lamont Paris has often talked about how the Gamecocks finish games being more important than how they start them.

The season-opening loss to North Florida was indicative of that, as South Carolina led for 30 minutes, but fell after a late surge.

Paris said they didn’t necessarily “need” that loss, but it proved to be beneficial in Game 2.

“I honestly do not believe that, if we had somehow won that game, that the messages that we were trying to send as a staff would have been received the same way as they were having lost that game,” Paris said.

USC never trailed in its 86-64 win over SC State on Friday. But what’s more important is that the Gamecocks never let them back into the game. The lead never got back to single digits.

A late first-half run had the Gamecocks up 17 going into the half. Paris raved about their performance across that stretch.

USC wasn’t shooting the ball well to close the half. The Gamecocks went 5 of 14 in the final seven minutes. But it was the defense that caused the run.

“We were cooking as a defensive unit, and then we followed those up with good rebounding,” he said. “I felt like in that moment, if the offense could get going a little bit, we could be in a really good spot, but thank goodness the defense is doing what it’s doing.”

There were tiny sparks shown by the Bulldogs throughout the second half, but each one was matched by a Gamecock run, including a 13-4 run to close the game.

“I thought it was a really good response by the entire group,” Paris said.

The most productive lineup on the floor Friday seemed to have some iteration of Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamarii Thomas, Jacobi Wright and Zach Davis. USC outscored SC State by at least 16 points during the time each of them was on the court. They combined for 65 of the Gamecocks’ 86 points.

19 of those came from Murray-Boyles, who shot an efficient 7 of 8 from the field — a “significantly better” performance in Paris’ eyes. He shot 7 of 16 in the first game.

“I think every shot he took around the basket, he had gathered himself, he had gotten back on balance and he finished in a strong way versus that was not the case in that first game,” Paris said.

Murray-Boyles also had a career-high 16 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds. That’s a microcosm of the increased motor with which the Gamecocks played.

The things USC did well against SC State — effort plays, defensive intensity, closing the game — were the things that cost it the game against North Florida.

However, maybe it was necessary for the Gamecocks to have that disappointing experience. Even though it’s a game later than they may have wanted, maybe now they know what’s required from them to reach their goals in the long run.

“I just wish we would have played better, but we are who we are, where we are right now,” Paris said. “So I think we needed to hear some of the things that we said as a staff. I think we took those things to heart.”