South-Carolina
GamecockScoop – South Carolina Drops SEC Tournament Quarterfinal To Auburn
NASHVILLE â It was the worst match-up possible in February, and a flipped calendar did no favors.
South Carolina menâs basketballâs one completely flat performance all season was its Feb. 14 loss at Auburn, a 101-61 loss at Neville Arena. And when the Gamecocks ran into the Tigers again in the SEC quarterfinals, Auburn worked on the same mismatches and deficiencies to win 86-55.
It leaves South Carolina (26-6) with a 1-1 week at the conference tournament and around 48 hours until it will learn its NCAA Tournament seeding, opponent and desgination in Sundayâs 6 p.m. selection show.
Just like the meeting at Neville Arena, South Carolina hung in for the first few minutes. But just like the first meeting, there were signs of impending trouble. Auburn (25-7) exploited a huge advantage inside with bigs Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson soaking up space and making it impossible for South Carolinaâs guards to drive inside. Life was just as dififcult on the other end of the court as South Carolinaâs two starting guards combined for zero first half assists, and the team only had seven assists all day.
In fairness, it was not all on the passing. South Carolina had a horrid day shooting, missing 36 of its first 45 shots from the floor. The Gamecocks struggled shooting outside again, adding a 3-of-11 3-point shooting performance to yesterdayâs 3-of-15 clip against Arkansas. Yesterday there was enough of an inside presence to supplement it.
No such luck today, as South Carolina was a ghastly 6-of-25 on layups.
There was one brief window where the lead fell to 10 late in the first half, a small bucket of water to try to cool off a fully burning fire. Of course it was far from enough, as the Tigers immedietely ripped off 11 straight points to more than double their lead going into the locker room.
It turned the second half fully into garbage time, with the bench mostly emptied long before the final buzzer. There was one brief injury scare when an Auburn player stepped on TaâLon Cooperâs foot in traffic and he had to walk it off in the tunel, but the fifth-year point guard was able to walk it off and eventually return to action for a short stint.
The weekend ended in disappointment, but the season is still alive and kicking. South Carolina will lick its wounds, get a week off and prepare to enter its first NCAA Tournament since 2017.
Right now, the only questions are where and when.
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