South Carolina basketball is a one-and-a-half-point favorite against Oregon in its first-round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday — the smallest margin of victory in a Midwest Region opening-round matchup.
The Gamecocks are not used to being heavy favorites, so this is nothing new for coach Lamont Paris’ team.
“We don’t like sexy. We’ve never been into sexy things,” Paris said. “There’s going to be a lot of things to keep this group motivated, playing with a chip on their shoulder.”
South Carolina (26-7) will get that chance against the Ducks (23-11), who earned a berth in March Madness by winning three games in three days en route to the Pac-12 Tournament title after a fourth-place league finish. In the regular season.
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south carolina basketball live score updates vs oregon
Final: Oregon 87, South Carolina 73
The Gamecocks finished 26–8 in the second year of the Lamont Paris era, an undeniably successful season.
Michi Johnson and Colin Murray-Boyles will be among the potential returnees next season, assuming they return to Columbia, and will be the starting point for next year’s roster.
Paris will certainly be irritated by Oregon’s 59% shooting, considering how the Gamecocks have defended all season. Germain Couisnard finished with 40 points against his former school. Michi Johnson led the Gamecocks with 24 points.
Oregon 78, South Carolina 65, 2:09 left in the second half. Uphill climb for the Gamecocks
Michi Johnson and BJ Mack both have four fouls each. Germaine Couisnard has an Oregon NCAA Tournament program-record 36 points. The Gamecocks are 2:09 away from the end of their season.
Oregon 67, South Carolina 54, 6:58 left in the second half. Michi Johnson has 12 points in the second half, but the Gamecocks need stops
Oregon is shooting above 50% from the floor in the game and in the second half. Germain Couisnard has 29 points, N’Fali Dante has 22 points. South Carolina has not yet received an answer from any Ducks star.
Michi Johnson had 15 points, 12 coming in the second half. The Gamecocks are shooting over 50% from the field in the second half, including 4 of 6 from 3.
BJ Mack has four fouls and has been sitting for some time. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk got some playing time during that segment.
Oregon 57, South Carolina 43, 11:52 left in the second half. Gamecocks’ defense struggling with Couisnard, Dante
Germain Couisnard had 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting as he tortured the Gamecocks backcourt on dribble-drives.
Oregon’s N’Faley Dante had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Michi Johnson and Talon Cooper have started on the other end, but South Carolina needs to get together quickly and get stops and scores.
Halftime: Oregon 34, South Carolina 29
The Gamecocks got to the free throw line to keep Oregon in check during an eight-minute period where SC did not make any field goals. Oregon took advantage with an 18–6 run, but Ta’Lon Cooper ended the half with a 60-foot buzzer beater to cut Oregon’s lead to 5.
BJ Mack had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, while Jacoby Wright had five points on 2-of-4 shooting. They are the only two Gamecocks to have multiple field goals.
Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The Ducks made 60% shots in the first half.
South Carolina 20, Oregon 19 7:04 1st Half | Germaine Couisnard Keeping Oregon Inside a Bucket
After back-to-back Gamecocks 3-pointers, Oregon’s Germain Couisnard answered with five straight points, including a wide-open 3.
Michi Johnson had one of South Carolina’s 3-pointers, but committed his second foul just before the media timeout.
South Carolina 13, Oregon 13 10:01 1st Half | Grind-It-Out Game
South Carolina is on a 3-minute scoring drought, but is tied at 13 midway through the first half. SC’s defense has forced seven Oregon turnovers so far. The Ducks have made 6 of 10 shots so far, but the Gamecocks’ defense is making everything difficult.
This could be a first-to-60-point game.
Gamecocks settling into the flow of the game against Oregon’s many looks
South Carolina started slow in the first few minutes but Oregon advanced into the matchup zone.
Those 8-footers will be in the middle of that area. Can South Carolina make enough of them? Oregon leads 7–5 at the first timeout.
running in pittsburgh
Oregon and South Carolina in Pittsburgh will begin at approximately 4:10 p.m. ET. The winner gets Creighton in the second round after the Jays beat Akron early Thursday.
Former Gamecocks guard Jermaine Couisnard is among the Oregon starters, as is typical.
What channel is South Carolina basketball vs. Oregon on today?
south carolina basketball vs oregon start time
Date: March 21, 2024
Time: 4 pm ET
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