By james art 
After another heavy loss, South Carolina’s senior coach Lamont Paris sympathized with his players in the struggles that everyone went through. The result was not what Paris or anyone else wanted, but he knows that their day is coming.
“When I say this, I do not mean our victory day. Obviously this will lead to part of that, “Paris said. “But I think our time, in which we realize what it really prevents us from dealing with some of these games in the way we win. When it really happens when we really recognize and understand it as players, then I really like what our group is. “
Until then, the desire to overcome the hump is still outlined. Gamecocks (10-10, 0-7 Sec) lost their seventh consecutive game, losing 65-60 from the number 14 Mississippi State for the Colonial Life Arena. Still without winning the SEC game, now this is their worst start in the conference in program history.
How it became
Like the meeting of these two teams earlier in the month, South Carolina had little offensive success for most of the first half. Gamecocks started 1-13 from the field and more than six minutes passed before they received their next basket.
But since the defense kept Bulldogs under control, this allowed the game to stay close. South Carolina forces nine losses in the first half and holds Mississippi State to 44 percent shooting. At the same time, the lack of points noted was offset by 9-11 for penalty strikes.
After lagging behind in the first 13 minutes, South Carolina managed to equalize the match thanks to consecutive arrangements by Jamarii Thomas. It was the first action of the senior Pointgard on January 8, after missing four matches due to a right knee.
“My knee is still not 100 percent,” said Thomas, who scored 19 points in 33 minutes, “but I will fight this and continue to fight for my boys because we have to do this. We have to do it the right way. “
Mississippi State led immediately before Gamecocks returned it to one less than four minutes before the end. However, they were obviously influenced by Bulldogs, who directed the press to the defense as they fired only 20 percent of the floor and 1-9 out of three. Meanwhile, Mississippi State closed the first half with a series of 7-0 to lead with 28-20 on the break.
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Reduced by 14 points by 8:50 by the end of the second half, South Carolina seemed to allow another match to go out of control. It has already happened three times since the beginning of the SEC game. But at that moment, Gamecocks switched to their zone protection, something that was of great benefit to them last season.
“We had a lot of decent possessions in defense, but then he found himself in a late clock or later scattered. We changed the coverage of the ball screen several times, but to no avail, “Paris said. “So, I just wanted to stop penetrating at some point, so we went to the area. I thought this was a large part of the key to this section.
After the defense changed things, it slowly changed the momentum in the game. In the last section of the Gamecocks Regulation, they made a 19-5 series to return to the end and equalize the game after theft and a great delay made by Zachary Davis.
“I have the feeling that we were all on one page,” said Colin Murray-Boils. “Just stay in it, stay aggressive, not throw our heads of such a deficit, and just continue to play our game.”
A big reason for the late impetus came from how much more effective South Carolina was in attack. Although it was not incredible, it fired 40.7 percent of the field in the second half and marked 10 for 12 on the penalty line. The protection continued to be effective, holding the Mississippi State to those five points in the back half of the period.
In the sequel, South Carolina struggled to achieve a lot, firing 1-6 from the floor. The bulldogs were 8-9 for penalty strikes, which helped them stay ahead in the last minute.
However, the battle was still not completely over. Still in a game of one possession, Murray-Boils went to the line for a few extremely important criminal shots, but missed both. After missing out on the second, Nick Pringle was able to bounce, creating the opportunity to try to equalize the game in the final seconds. However, his pass came out of the hands of Ardon Coners and off the borders to turn it for the last time.
“It is as if we have walked 95 percent of the road in this play, but we are not getting any of that,” Paris said. “We just have to do some of these things better.”
Two observations
Cannot generate consistent violation –It took to the second part of the second half until South Carolina began to play better in attack. But for most of the day it was a real struggle. Gamecocks were 5-21 of the field in the first half, good for the low 20 percent shooting. In the second half, they were a little better, firing 40.7 percent, which helped to turn and equalize the game. But in the overtime, they reached 1-6 and did not make their first basket until 1.3 seconds were left.
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It continues to approach, but it is not enough …Give great respect to South Carolina, the battle is there throughout this series of losses. The second half on Saturday was the best possible. But it seems that he could not carry this inertia into the sequels.
Key statistics
29.3-South Carolina was fighting for a large part of the Saturday match, shooting 29.3 percent as a team. There was not much perseverance in the attack that put Gamecocks in a hole for most of the day before making their late return to go to sequels. The shooting below 30 percent will never succeed, even in such a close game as this was.
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Turning point
With three less, Gamecocks were still alive in the final seconds of the sequel. But after Murray-Boils missed both his penalty beats, Gamecocks managed to grab the bounce to stay alive. But the submission of Pringle, after grabbing the bouncing ball, came out of the hands of Koniers and went beyond the borders.
Followed
South Carolina will travel to Athens to face Georgia on Tuesday night. The submission is at 7:00 pm by Stegman Coliseum on SEC Network.