Maddening: South Carolina MBB falls to Oregon in NCAAs for quick tournament exit
After a seven-year wait, it’s a one-and-done trip to the NCAA Tournament for No. 6 seed South Carolina.
In a year where South Carolina (26-8) proved so many folks wrong, where it was full of unexpected jubilation and surprise, it’s time to say goodbye. This is the group of Gamecocks that put USC back in the mix among the Southeastern Conference’s best teams.
Only one team at the end of the college basketball season walks home happy. On Thursday, Oregon (24-11) was the one to continue fighting for a chance to remain that lone, happy team with an 87-73 win over the Gamecocks in the first round of March Madness.
Jermaine Couisnard takes his revenge
Jermaine Couisnard came prepared to take on his former team, and he wasn’t going to make it easy either. It’s the first time Couisnard has seen his former program since transferring in 2022, and he didn’t waste the opportunity.
The Oregon guard had 16 points by the end of the first half, and finished the game with a career-high 40 points, six assists and three rebounds. He scored the most points by a Duck in NCAA Tournament history.
Couisnard and N’Faly Dante scored over 50 combined points to lead Oregon’s offense, while going 16-for-22 from the field. Even with South Carolina holding the remaining seven Ducks to under 10 points each, the Gamecocks couldn’t get quality stops on Couisnard or Dante.
Once Couisnard gave Oregon a double-digit lead, him and Dante switched to cruise control and glided on through.
Struggling to shoot
For the third-straight game, South Carolina struggled to get any offense rolling. Oregon’s offense has been rolling since the start of the Pac-12 tournament last week, and it barreled through the Gamecocks’ defensivee schemes Thursday.
USC shot just 31% from the field in the first half, not scoring a field goal for over eight minutes. Collin Murray-Boyles struggled to get any looks, most USC mid-range jumpers weren’t easy shots and the Gamecocks only had six offensive rebounds in the half.
The Gamecocks missed seven free throws, had over 50 shot attempts and couldn’t get more than a 6-0 run going.
Ta’Lon Cooper’s half-court heave at the buzzer helped keep the Gamecocks within a two-possession game, but the Ducks expanded it out to a 10-point lead three minutes into the second half. Meechie Johnson (24), Cooper (16) and BJ Mack (13) were the lone players to score double figures for South Carolina.
The next steps
Despite how the season ended, there’s still much South Carolina accomplished. The Gamecocks tied the program record for single season wins. Paris had one of the greatest regular season turnarounds in the country.
USC might not have won its first NCAA Tournament game, but just getting to the postseason is something it can be proud of.
South Carolina’s roster will become significantly different over the next seven months. Mack, Cooper and Stephen Clark are out of eligibility. There’s some unknowns moving forward, including how hard USC will attack the transfer portal with two incoming freshmen committed for next year. That doesn’t include anyone on the roster today who chooses to transfer out.
Paris is under contract to stay in Columbia until 2030, a new deal that was sealed up during the SEC Tournament in Nashville last week. In that sense, one key part of the offseason is already taken care of.
This loss will leave a bruise, but it doesn’t change the work USC put in throughout this unprecedented and historic season. Paris said earlier this season — progress, however big or small, is a step in the right direction. This end is only the beginning.
