NASHVILLE — With another Auburn jump shot going in the net late in the first half, South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris angrily shook his head.
This was not the first time he’d seen the Tigers thrash his Gamecocks. And just like the last time, it became clear very quickly that the outcome would not be pretty.
South Carolina was eliminated by Auburn on Friday, 86-55, at Bridgestone Arena from the 2024 SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The Tigers, who defeated Auburn (25-7) 101-61 in the regular season, thrashed the Gamecocks (26-7) for the second time since the start of February.
For the Gamecocks, the crushing defeat is a real wasted opportunity.
Before South Carolina’s players even took the court, Mississippi State upset top-seeded Tennessee, blowing open the door to the SEC Tournament championship.
Auburn had slammed it shut by the time the twenty minutes had passed.
Paris stated that it would “be some real bad karma” for the Tigers to duplicate their impressive shooting performance from the first meeting between the two teams during his press conference following a victory over Arkansas on Thursday.
While the Tigers shot 49.3% from the field and 47.4% from beyond the arc, they fell short of those marks but not by much.
Using 17 of 35 field goal attempts, Auburn outscored South Carolina by 46 points in the first half.
The Gamecocks were down 20 going into the locker room as a result. The Tigers took their game to the other end of the court in the second half, stifling South Carolina and eliminating any chance of a spectacular comeback.
The Gamecocks’ final field goal percentage of 28.1% was by far their lowest of the season.
With 14 points, BJ Mack led South Carolina, but his 3-of-12 shooting from the field was ineffective.
Auburn’s interior game is too strong for South Carolina to handle.
Auburn’s dominance was mostly established in the painted area, where it scored twenty points more than Paris’ squad.
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First-team All-SEC forward Johni Broome was the driving force behind South Carolina’s collapse near the hoop.
The star of Auburn finished with eighteen points and ten rebounds. He even made two 3-pointers.
Additionally, he shared some of the blame for South Carolina freshman sensation Collin Murray-Boyles’ lackluster afternoon. Guarded by Broome, a member of the SEC’s All-Defensive Team, Murray-Boyles was only unable to score in double figures twice since the start of February.
What’s coming up for basketball at South Carolina?
The Gamecocks will now have to wait for their March Madness matchup and destination.
They will formally enter the NCAA Tournament for the first time since making it to the Final Four in 2017 during the Selection Show on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, CBS). Joe Lunardi, an ESPN analyst, had South Carolina ranked as the No. 5 seed prior to Friday’s action.
