Four takeaways: Where it went wrong for South Carolina in loss to Tennessee

After so much build up and excitement, South Carolina’s chances of winning the SEC regular season title are out the window.

The No. 17 Gamecocks lost to No. 4 Tennessee, 66-59, in a battle for first place in the SEC on Wednesday. The Volunteers have now clinched the outright regular season title.

While it’s a tough loss, there’s still so much to look forward to with this team. Let’s break it all down.

Shooting struggles were killer

It wasn’t until the final minutes of the game that South Carolina started to shoot the ball well. All of a sudden, three-point shots were coming in bunches and the drives to the rim were ending with finishes.

But for most of the night, the Gamecocks had difficulty making shots, especially from the outside. In the first half, they had only scored 24 points and went 4-for-17 from deep. This allowed Tennessee to build a big lead, and while that margin grew smaller, it managed to hold on the rest of the way.

Looking back, it’s easy to think about how different the game might’ve been if the shot selection were just a bit more efficient. It’s one of the main reasons why this game ended the way it did.

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Tennessee is just a great team

While South Carolina didn’t do itself any favors with its poor play at times, let’s give some credit where it’s due. The Volunteers are just a solid basketball team. They have a real chance to win four games in a row versus ranked opponents heading into the SEC Tournament. That’s super impressive.

It took a bad shooting night from everyone but Dalton Knecht for the Gamecocks to win the first time. Players like Jonas Aidoo and Zakai Zeigler, who both struggled in that game, played much better this time around and made a difference. Knecht was also brilliant, finishing with 26 points on some huge shots.

Any time South Carolina went on a run, Tennessee answered right back. It felt like any time the game got close, it became a double-digit deficit moments later. What’s also crazy is that the Volunteers never trailed in this game.

It would be interesting to see these two squads face off once more next weekend in Nashville at the SEC Tournament.

Need to be better on screens/in transition

Tennessee wasn’t particularly great from the outside, shooting 7-for-20 overall. But it didn’t need to be with how well it played inside at times. The Volunteers ran a lot of screens and made it tough for South Carolina to guard them, leaving some open lanes to the hoop.

With Tennessee playing at a high tempo, it also became tough for the Gamecocks to guard in transition. These are both areas that need some tweaking over the next few weeks. But Lamont Paris spoke about how he will try to find the root of these issues and get to the bottom of it.

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Still so much to come

It’s time for some much-needed perspective. Does losing out on the SEC regular season title hurt? Absolutely, who wouldn’t have loved to see a new banner hung up at Colonial Life Arena? But in reality, it’s not the end all, be all. There’s still so much to play for.

The Gamecocks still have a legit chance to become a top-four seed heading into the SEC Tournament. This would earn them a double-bye, meaning they wouldn’t have to play until next Friday.

And beyond that, South Carolina will undoubtedly be in the NCAA Tournament, which has always been the goal. From there, it has about as good of a chance as anyone to make a run.

So while this loss stings right now, don’t forget this team has a lot of goals left to obtain. It’s going to be a very interesting next weeks.

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