South Carolina 74, Texas A&M 54

Well that stunk.

Unlike our previous SEC losses, where we managed to play competitively for 30+ minutes, this one was an abject disaster. I’m not going to overreact, as it only dropped us to a much-better-than-expected 5-5 in SEC play, but this one won’t be a ton of fun.

Let’s get it over with.

Box Score

First Half

We started the game playing well! South Carolina didn’t score for the first 3:55, and we were able to build leads of 9-0 and 12-5 during a really promising opening passage.

***************** NOTE: THERE IS NO JOY BEYOND THIS POINT *****************

The Gamecocks then closed the half on a 36-11 run to destroy my Saturday afternoon and put an emphatic stamp on this game. I can’t sugar coat it, and I can’t frame it with any forward-looking development. We were bad.

Halftime Score: South Carolina 41, Texas A&M 23

Second Half

In games like this, the trailing team will typically make a token run to push the deficit towards single digits. It rarely leads to a win, but it can often make the difference between a relaxing afternoon and a game where the starters don’t get to rest.

South Carolina ensured that wouldn’t happen, continuing the onslaught with a 15-3 run in the opening four minutes that pushed the lead to 30.

We closed the gap after the Gamecocks called off the dogs, but there’s really nothing else to discuss here.

Final Score: South Carolina 74, Texas A&M 54

Overall Thoughts

I’m a little worried, as our style of play and our roster construction seemed ill-suited to bring the heat for eighteen straight games over nine weeks. We’ve now been cleaned out in two of our last three, which makes we wonder if fatigue is starting to set in.

The good news: We’ve got four of our next five at home, and my primary goal (finishing outside the bottom four in regular season play) is still very much in play.

BTHO Florida