South Carolina beaten by Florida to extend losing streak to seven games

South Carolina’s first loss to Florida this season simply couldn’t be avenged. A few weeks after losing to the Gators at home by 47 points, the Gamecocks hit the road to Gainesville on Tuesday night. Slipping behind early against a physical team, South Carolina fell to their seventh straight defeat, losing 76-62.

South Carolina scored first on a putback and the foul from Meechie Johnson, but the lead didn’t last long. Florida responded with a 10-0 run, using their physicality to bruise and batter the Gamecocks down low. Starting center Rueben Chinyelu recorded 10 rebounds just 13 minutes into the game as Florida’s forwards crashed the glass early.

A pair of buckets from South Carolina brought the game back to a one-possession game with Meechie Johnson draining a three. But Florida, as the Gators have done often this season, stepped on the gas early in the game. Led by Alex Condon and Chinyelu, Florida made seven of ten shot attempts in the middle of the first half to push the lead to 14 points.

But instead of giving up, South Carolina shored up defensively and made just enough shots to get back into the game. Mike Sharavjamts added a pair of triples in the first half, and the Gamecocks hit four of their last five shots to cut into the Gators’ lead. However, an inopportune pass from Johnson gave possession back to the Gators as time ran out in the first half. Xaivian Lee corralled the steal and hit a layup to move the margin to 39-29 at the end of the half.

“Certainly it changes the outcome of what that half is,” Lamont Paris said. “Just the way that it could look if you make some of those good looks. Right around the basket, some open threes, some really, really good looks that most times you’re going to finish that thing off.”

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!

Florida yet again led with a punch once the second half opened. After a quick Gamecocks bucket, Florida hit the gas and put up a 7-0 run. This stretch, capped by a layup from Alex Condon, moved the deficit to its largest of the game, 15 points. However, South Carolina responded with a mini-run of their own. The Gamecocks forced a couple of Gators turnovers and Kobe Knox stepped up to make his shots. Another make on the inside cut the lead back to single-digits.

That was the last time the contest would be separated by less than 10 points, however. South Carolina’s shooting waned, and sloppy offense led to scores from Florida in transition. Combined with missed shots on the Gamecocks offensive end, the lead for Florida ballooned again. The focus on stopping Florida’s frontcourt led to foul trouble for some of the Gamecocks’ bigs, with EJ Walker and Elijah Strong both picking up their fourth foul early in the second half. Walker ended up fouling out with just under nine minutes in the game.

Florida’s physicality wore down the Gamecocks on the interior, with Rueben Chinyelu continuing to grab rebounds at will. Despite not shooting well from deep, Florida collected offensive rebounds and connected on second chance shots. At the end of the game, the Gators had 27 second-chance points compared to South Carolina’s 15.

“Yeah, he’s going to wake up and have a double-double,” Paris said of Chinyelu postgame. “The day he doesn’t, you call me the day he doesn’t have 10 rebounds. And because of where most of those rebounds are, there are eight points baked into 10 rebounds for him.”

Your GamecockCentral membership starts at just $1 – and we’ll throw in a complimentary year of access to The Athletic.

Big man Thomas Haugh hit a couple of threes in the second half, with Florida taking advantage of screens to create space on offense. Meanwhile, the Gators still pushed the ball inside, punishing the Gamecocks with bucket after bucket in the paint. Despite some shots going in on offense, South Carolina’s lack of size on defense led to Florida’s lead growing larger. An and-one at the rim from Alex Condon pushed the margin to 20 points with just under seven minutes to go, an insurmountable hole for the Gamecocks.

Chinyelu was taken out of the game prior to the last media timeout, but he made the most of his 24 minutes on the court. The center recorded 15 points and 17 rebounds against the Gamecocks on Tuesday night. Alex Condon also recorded a double-double, as he had a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to his name. Even in the waning minutes, Florida’s rebounding acumen showed against the Gamecocks. The final rebounding margin mirrored that of the first matchup between the two teams. At the end of the game, Florida had won the battle of the boards by a 47-30 margin.

Up next: The Gamecocks will return home to Columbia on Saturday, Feb. 21, as they will play Mississippi State. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!