South Carolina chasing bounce-back effort at Missouri

Field Level Media|published: Fri 12th January, 15:26 2024

Jan 6, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Meechie Johnson (5) attempts a three point basket \ams in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. credits: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

South Carolina was rolling along this season and on a six-game winning streak until the Gamecocks went stone cold in its last contest.

A chance for redemption comes Saturday when South Carolina pays a visit to Missouri at Columbia, Mo.

"For whatever reason, we did not perform well offensively," South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said after his team's 74-47 loss to Alabama. "It was contagious throughout the whole team. Two guys had acceptable field goal percentages. I don't know what to attribute it to. (Alabama is) a good team, so we have to (move on)."

South Carolina (13-2, 1-1 SEC) saw guard Meechie Johsnson score 16 points in the loss, but he missed 12 of 18 shots from the floor - including misses on 7 of 9 from 3-point range.

"When it came to me, I really didn't hit shots and perform well in the second half," said Johnson, who leads the Gamecocks with 18.0 points per game. "I'll take it from a guard standpoint. Me being a leader of the team, a lot goes with me energy-wise, scoring-wise and defensive-wise. I just couldn't get it going early in the second half, and that affected us as a group."

Forward B.J. Mack, who averages 12.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, also struggled at Alabama. He shot 2 of 10 overall and 1 of 4 from behind the arc.

Missouri enters on the heels of a 90-77 loss at Kentucky. The Tigers (8-7, 0-2) have lost five of their last six games.

"We are a well-connected group, so we're never gonna fall," said forward Noah Carter, who led Missouri with 20 points in the loss. "If we get hit, we're gonna get right back up. We just gotta keep fighting, you know? Consistently keep fighting as hard as we possibly can.

"We know we're right there. We're so close, man. We just gotta keep working and keep fighting and get ready for Saturday."

Guard Sean East II leads Missouri with 17.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. Carter averages 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds and guards Tamar Bates and Nick Honor each average 10.7 points.

—Field Level Media

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