With the absence of G Chico Carter, which perhaps re-opened a door for G.G. Jackson to crack the starting lineup after spending the 3 previous tip-offs on the bench, the Gamecocks still had their best 3-point shooting day of the season with a staggering 15 threes made.

Yes, this was a matchup of two bottom-of-the-SEC teams, with LSU having lost 12 straight prior to this, but this was a close matchup throughout, and the Gamecocks got a wire-to-wire SEC win on the road. These are the sorts of performances you're going to have to build on as Head Coach Lamont Paris continues to build his culture here with several hopefully returning players and as he will soon look to the portal this offseason to try to convince other players that his brand of basketball can work with the right personnel.

We've said in the past if the Gamecocks can get offensive production from Meechie Johnson, Hayden Brown, and G.G. Jackson, they're usually okay, and today all three scored in the double-digits with Meechie scoring 20 points and Brown putting in one of his best performances of the season with 16 points, it didn't hurt to get another 18 points coming from recently surging Jacobi Wright, his career high.

It was also encouraging to see a much more dialed-in and positive G.G. Jackson today, who perhaps proved he can take constructive coaching and came out swinging today, attempting 10 3-pointers, and scoring 20 points. While you may want a little more diverse shot selection from G.G., the results still worked out in this case and should create some positive momentum for the struggling freshman.

After combining for 18 minutes and 7 points across two games last week vs. Ole Miss and Vandy, G.G. Jackson scored the first 6 points for the Gamecocks today, and ended with 36 min and 20 points. It wasn't a perfect showing, after scoring two straight threes to start the game, Jackson went cold for the next 17 minutes until he made two FTs near the end of the first half, but Jackson was clearly more engaged and energetic following his tumultuous week.

A small moment before the half showed a seeming signal of growth in the relationship between Coach Lamont Paris and his still-maturing 18-year-old star when Jackson rushed the Gamecocks' final possession of the half, resulting in a turnover. Paris gently coached the freshman, who seemed receptive to his teaching, and the interaction was punctuated by a pat on the head from Paris as they headed to the locker room.

I don't want to fully speculate on their relationship given how much of it has played out behind closed doors (probably to Paris' credit). Still, it seems that whatever rift was playing out on television in the two games last week, with Jackson's bench body language looking downright poor at times, has been resolved, at least for the span of this Saturday afternoon.

Despite missing Chico Carter Jr., who has been good for a couple of 3s per game and a whopping 47% shooting percentage from behind the arc, the Gamecocks found ways to still hit 15 threes which carried their scoring effort in today's win. In fact, the 15 made threes were the highest on the season for the Gamecocks, with the previous high (13) coming in an OT loss vs. UGA.

Despite being outscored 36-20 in the paint, the Gamecocks shot 47% from 3 and got stand-out efforts from Meechie Johnson, G.G. Jackson, Hayden Brown and Jacobi Wright to offset the difference.

Continuing another trend, the Gamecocks committed too many turnovers with 12, but had 20 assists to LSU's 9, meaning they were often able to move the ball better and set up shots better than the Tigers, even if sometimes things got a bit sloppy.

Lastly, South Carolina committed 19 fouls, but LSU only made 14-26 of their FTs (54%). Meanwhile, the Gamecocks, while getting fewer opportunities, went 17-18. Carolina shot an incredible 94% from the charity stripe, fully taking advantage of every opportunity they had. In fact, South Carolina didn't miss a FT until the final minute of the game.

The South Carolina Gamecocks (10-17, 3-11) have an unenviable task as the #1 ranked Alabam Crimson Tide (22-4, 12-1) come to Columbia, SC on Wednesday for a 9 pm tipoff at Colonial Life Arena. The game will also be televised on ESPN2.

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