South Carolina falls to Alabama on the road to push losing streak to six games

South Carolina’s defense could not stop an elite Alabama offense on Valentine’s Day in Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks hit the road following a loss to Missouri last Saturday, and despite a strong showing early, South Carolina fell to their sixth straight defeat, losing 89-75.

Both offenses were on the mark early. Just over five minutes into the game, the contest was tied at 13-13. Kobe Knox jumped out of the gate, reaching double-figures early. He was a part of a solid shooting performance in the opening parts of the first half for the Gamecocks. The team began the night with a 7-12 mark from the floor, taking a 17-13 lead.

But for as good as South Carolina’s offense was to begin the game, the Crimson Tide were simply better. Attempting a barrage of threes, Alabama made most of their early shots from deep as well. Moving the ball around the perimeter, the Crimson Tide made six of their first 10 attempts from deep. SEC leading scorer Labaron Philon had three makes from beyond the arc in the first half.

“And then, they still do their thing and make those threes and that’s kind of how they do,” Lamont Paris said postgame. “I just watched them in the Ole Miss game, they scored 31 points or 34 points, whatever it was in the first half, and 61 in the second half.”

The Gamecocks tried valiantly to keep up with the Crimson Tide offense, and were able to for stretches of the first half. Ten minutes into the game, the score was tied at 23-23. That’s however, when Alabama began to pull away. Miami transfer Jalil Bethea scored two baskets in quick succession to extend the Crimson Tide lead to seven points.

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As Alabama’s offense continued to make their shots from the field, South Carolina’s offense started to become stagnant. Meechie Johnson was held to two points on 1-4 shooting in the first half, and the game’s fast tempo began to force the Gamecocks into turnovers. South Carolina committed multiple giveaways late, leading to transition points for Alabama.

This was exemplified by a fastbreak dunk from Amari Allen with just seconds left in the first half. After Elijah Strong‘s three missed at the buzzer, Alabama had a double-digit lead after one half, leading 45-32 after 20 minutes.

In the early second half, both teams alternated between connecting on shots and lulls in productivity. Then, Meechie Johnson’s first three of the game cut the Crimson Tide’s lead to 12 before the first media timeout of the second half. Multiple times, including on a dunk over an Alabama defender by Kobe Knox, the Gamecocks cut the deficit to 11 points. But the defense couldn’t stop an Alabama offensive onslaught. The Crimson Tide connected on seven of their first 13 shots in the second half.

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However, Meechie Johnson came out more efficient in the second half. South Carolina’s leading scorer got to the line multiple times to earn points from the stripe. Then, he drove in with under ten minutes to go to cut the lead to ten. After a missed shot from Alabama on the defensive end, Johnson pulled up from three. It found nothing but net, getting the margin into single-digits for the first time since the first half.

“What stands out was that it was not aggressive in the first half and very aggressive in the second half,” Paris said.

With the Gamecocks in the game, Alabama seemingly had an answer for every made basket from South Carolina. The Crimson Tide got to the line on demand, and made their free throws, too. Despite Johnson’s heroics, South Carolina couldn’t muster enough offense to close the gap. Philon’s ability to get to the line added necessary points for Alabama to pad their lead late.

For much of the closing minutes, the lead hovered around a 10-point margin for Alabama. The Crimson Tide never let the game get closer than seven points in the second half. The three-point performance from Alabama separated them from the Gamecocks over the course of the game. By the time the buzzer sounded, the Crimson Tide made 14 threes compared to South Carolina’s seven.

Up next: The Gamecocks will travel to Gainesville on Tuesday, Feb. 17, as they will play Florida. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.

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