The Gamecocks avenged one of last season's more stinging losses by beating Wofford 64-53. The game was an up-and-down affair. Carolina built a nice lead by halftime, but the Terriers stormed back in the second half and kept things interesting until Carolina pulled away in the final minutes. Bruce Ellington (18 points) and Sam Muldrow (14 points, 14 boards, and 3 blocks) led the way for Carolina, while Cameron Rundles (20 points) led Wofford.
A few quick notes about the game:
- Turnovers appear to be this team's clear weak point. In many other ways, this year's team appears to be improving upon last year's. We shoot for a higher percentage, play better defense, rebound better (we have great rebounding numbers, partly because we're forcing more missed shots), and we can even shoot FTs. However, we're turning the ball over more. That's to be expected when you lose a veteran PG and replace him with a true freshman, of course, but you'd like to see a cleaner stat line against a team like Wofford. With SEC play barreling down upon us, we need to improve here in a hurry. Improving in this category will be the difference between whether or not we make the post-season this year.
- This was the front line's best game so far. Muldrow was the star, but DeMontre Harris and R. J. Slawson got in on the action. All had a handful of scores under the basket. Granted, this came against a team with little inside presence, but even that's improvement for a team that was struggling to maintain any consistent offensive threat down low even against unimposing front courts.
That's a wrap for this one. A trip to Columbus to play the second-ranked Ohio St. Buckeyes is up next for Carolina.