After a pair of close losses last weekend, South Carolina is hoping to move past the adversity and get back on track when it hosts Charleston Southern Friday in Columbia, SC.
“We need to grow,” head coach Lamont Harris told The State newspaper. “Probably in some areas a little more rapidly, some guys a little more rapidly.”
The Gamecocks (4-2) take on a Charleston Southern team that loves to shoot from beyond the arc. The Buccaneers (5-3) have made 109 shots, the most in the nation, and are shooting 37.6% from distance.
“We’re just trying to play and take what the defense gives us,” head coach Saah Nimley said after a 93-81 win over Division III Piedmont on Tuesday. “We do have an offense that generates a lot of (threes). These guys can make shots, and they were recruited to do that. These guys really fit our system.”
Brycen Blaine leads the way with 35 3-pointers made and is averaging 23.4 points per game. He scored 25 against Piedmont and nearly had a triple-double as he added eight rebounds and eight assists to his stat line.
South Carolina loves to shoot from the 3-point line as well. The Gamecocks have connected 62 times and are shooting at a 33.5% clip. But they were just 10 of 34 from 3-point range in a 79-77 loss to Northwestern on Sunday. In last Friday’s 79-72 loss to Butler, the Gamecocks were 7 of 26 from distance.
But Paris wants his team to keep shooting.
“You can’t stop shooting them,” Paris said. “That’s who we’ve been, and they’re good shots. “I thought, by and large, they were good shots. We just couldn’t make them.”
Meechie Johnson has knocked down 16 3-pointers this season and averages a team-best 16.2 points per outing.
Johnson scored 15 points in the loss to Northwestern and dished out five assists while taking care of the ball as he had no turnovers in 35 minutes of action. He’s had 19 games in his career where he has tallied at least five assists.
