CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Wednesday night’s 85-76 loss at Boston College is an indicator of where South Carolina is right now. They’re a team with a clear go-to guy and clear areas for improvement if they are to succeed in SEC play.
The Gamecocks started the game off reasonably in that they didn’t fall too far behind. They were still within striking distance at 30-23 with over eight minutes left in the first half, and at times their active and aggressive defense made it tough on the Eagles. But two 9-0 runs with a basket in between changed all of that, putting the Eagles up 23 with over a minute and a half to play. With a little patience, Boston College started picking apart the Gamecocks’ defense. All of a sudden, it was a 21-point deficit at halftime.
“We just didn’t play,” said head coach Darrin Horn of the first half. “We were bad.”
While South Carolina made it a ballgame in the second half as their press turned BC over and generally sped them up, they ran out of gas after getting within three at one point as the Eagles pulled away.
The Gamecocks have been hurt by injuries, to be sure. Dominique Archie is done for the season with a knee injury, while forward Mike Holmes is likely out until early SEC play. Archie declared for the NBA Draft along with Devan Downey after last season, but opted to return, and his loss hurts because it leaves them without a clear No. 2 guy behind Downey, who did everything he could to keep them in Wednesday’s game.
“Dominique Archie gave us a cushion,” said Horn. “He covered up so much in so many ways. Without him out there, we’ve lost that cushion.”
Downey kept the Gamecocks in it in the first half, then got others involved in the second as he had six of his seven assists in the latter frame. He finished with 29 points, albeit on 28 shots, and was all over the court in 35 minutes.
“With the cushion they had, we were down 20-something, Coach said if you’re open, let it fly,” Downey said after the game. “I was out there trying to win, I can’t be thinking about, ‘man I’m getting up too many shots’. I got to do whatever is necessary for my team to win, but I would like to take less than 28 shots.”
Downey has long been more of a scorer than a playmaker, but the second half is something they could certainly use from him. He made players better, while continuing to be a ball-hawking defender at the other end. In their press, he was a factor, although he’ll do that even when a team breaks the press and tries to run their offense.
A return by Holmes could certainly boost this team. He was averaging 11 points and 4.8 boards and shooting over 60 percent from the field before getting hurt. With Archie out, they will need him more than ever as there doesn’t appear to be a clear Robin to Downey’s Batman on this team, although Downey feels players like Sam Muldrow and Brandis Raley-Ross are “more than capable” of being second scorers. Downey will do all he can for this team, and they will lean on him, but they need more. Holmes’ return could certainly help, but it won’t be a slam dunk for this team as he hasn’t consistently played to his potential.
“Mike hasn’t been a guy that we’ve been count on consistently, he just hasn’t in a lot of ways,” Horn said.
The way Horn sees it, other players all have to do their part if this team is to win. With Kentucky being loaded once again, the SEC East is its usual bear of a division. Tennessee is looking better amidst questions at the point guard spot, Florida should be a factor despite a recent slump, and Vanderbilt has many players an important year older and looks like just such a team compared to this time last year. With Archie out and Holmes not a given to make this team a winner, there are two things this team knows.
“We need guys to contribute, that’s the bottom line,” said Horn. “I’m not a big believer in ‘stepping up’ – that would indicate that somebody’s got to do something they’re not capable of before – we just need guys to do what they can do, and we didn’t do that in the first half (Wednesday night). In the second half, we did.”
“We have to defend,” Downey added. “That’s going to be the key to the success of this team. We showed a little bit in the second half, but we’ve got to come out from minute one and defend. Good basketball teams are good defensive teams. We can’t think we’re going to have a shoot-out every night and out-score people.”
The Gamecocks could also stand to improve on the glass. Boston College out-rebounded them 47-33, and on the season they are being out-rebounded by about four per game. Opponents are grabbing 15 offensive rebounds per game (the Eagles had 18).
With SEC play just over a week away, South Carolina is 8-4 but doesn’t have a resume win thus far. Their best win is either La Salle or Western Kentucky, two teams with a shot at the NCAA Tournament but neither a sure bet by a long shot right now. They had a chance against Clemson but fell to the Tigers. They have one more chance before SEC play, on Saturday against Baylor, before finishing at home against Longwood in a game they should win.
Right now, they look like a team that is a player or two away to support Downey. Holmes could be that player when he comes back, or it could be someone like Muldrow or Raley-Ross. It could also be multiple players, which Horn alluded to. But it won’t be Archie, and filling that void is proving to be a challenge to this point.
