South Carolina's basketball team came into the year with NCAA Tournament aspirations, but 10 games into the season because of COVID and a tough stretch of basketball.
The Gamecocks are 1-4 in their last five games with all four losses (and the win) coming by double-digits. In tough stretches it can be hard to really get a sense of player value, but one stat does help with that in terms of plus-minus.
The stat, which measures the difference in score when a player is on the court, isn't necessarily great for single game samples but does help tell the story over the course of a season.
GamecockCentral took a look at the plus-minuses on South Carolina's team through 10 games and here are some of the findings.
Two sophomore reserves lead the Gamecocks in plus-minus through 10 games, headlined by Jalyn McCreary and Trae Hannibal.
McCreary leads the team at plus-22 and has finished in positive in the last five games he's played; the only time he finished in the negative was the season opener against Liberty.
The big man, who missed three straight games, has been plus-7 since returning to the court.
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Hannibal is up next at plus-21 and his best day came against Georgia where he finished plus-28 on the night. He's finished in the negative in three of his last four games, though, but just minus-1 against Missouri and minus-4 against Vanderbilt.
Before that, though, Hannibal finished in the positive in four-straight games from Houston to LSU.
Among the team's regular starters, four are in the positive. AJ Lawson leads that group at plus-11, including a plus-28 and plus-25 performance against Texas A&M and Georgia, respectively.
He's finished below zero in four of his last five games, though, in large part because the Gamecocks lost those and Lawson plays a lot of minutes: minus-6 against LSU, minus-11 against Missouri, minus-23 against Auburn and minus-7 against Vandy.
Despite some struggles, Seventh Woods is plus-16 this season and plus-11 in his last four games. Jermaine Couisnard is plus-one on the year but is minus-24 in the last four games.
Justin Minaya has been consistent, sitting at plus-8 on the season but is minus-16 over the last four games.
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Keyshawn Bryant is on a scoring tear and playing arguably his best basketball of the season. His plus-minus will look alarming—sitting at minus-16 on the season—but was minus-14 before the initial COVID pause.
Since returning Bryant is minus-2 in five games but is plus-34 in his last two games against Georgia and Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks have had a rough time this season with COVID heavily impacting their season and then struggles now despite consistent practices.
South Carolina is 1-4 in its last five games and is coming off a 93-81 loss to Vanderbilt Saturday. The Gamecocks (4-6, 2-4 SEC) travel to Florida (10-4, 6-3 SEC) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Full list of plus-minus stats so far this season:
