FINAL: Gamecocks Falter In 2nd Half, Losing 72-67 To Clemson

South Carolina's men's basketball team started off strong, but couldn't finish against their archrivals, losing their first game of the season.

The South Carolina Gamecocks walked into the Tigers' Den on Wednesday night looking to notch their second straight win over the Clemson Tigers and maintain their undefeated Record. After seeing their defense lead them for the first 24 minutes of play, Lamont Paris' team unable to hold off their arch-rivals, faltering late and losing 72-67. 

In the first thirteen minutes of the matchup, it was as basketball purists would term it 'a game of runs'. It began with a perfect start from the Gamecocks, and a counter punch from Clemson, as South Carolina went up 10-2 in the first 3 minutes and 38 seconds of the game, but the Tigers responded with a 9-2 run of their own. 

After going down 14-13, Carolina would go back on a 8-0 run thanks to the deadeye shooting of Meechie Johnson, and the quality effort and play of freshman Collin Murray-Boyles, who made his second appearance of the season on Wednesday night. Clemson, however, would quickly dust themselves off and go on a 9-2 run by attacking the paint and notch things up at 23 points a piece. 

Things would then bog down for both teams offensively, as both teams collectively shot 14.2 percent from the floor over the final 7 minutes and 40 seconds of the half, but Carolina got all three makes, heading into the locker room with a seven-point advantage.

Gamecock guard Jacobi Wright putting up a jumpshot against Clemson's PJ Hall (6th Dec., 2023) / Ken Ruinard | USA Today Network

At the start of the second half, Carolina made a more concerted effort to get the ball on the low block, and while getting good positioning, faced stiff help defense from PJ Hall, who blocked three shots within the span of two minutes. Holding a 11-point lead after the first media timeout, the Tigers would go on a 11-0 run to tie the game up once again, waking up Littlejohn Coliseum in the process. 

From that point on, it was a true back-and-forth affair in every sense of the word, with both teams trading the lead at various points. With 1 minute and 52 seconds left in the game, the Tigers' Chase Hunter hit a crunch-time three-point shot, giving Clemson a six-point lead, one that the Gamecocks couldn't overcome in the end.

South Carolina falls for the first time this season, dropping their record to 7-1. The Gamecocks will be on the road again on Saturday afternoon when they take on the East Carolina Pirates.

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