South Carolina led much of the game but faded down the stretch in an 85-80 loss at LSU.

South Carolina was missing two coaches, including head coach Frank Martin, a starter (Alanzo Frink), and key reserve (Jalyn McCreary), and had played just two games in the last six weeks. But AJ Lawson caught fire in the first half and the Gamecocks led for more than thirty minutes.

Then everything - lack of practice, lack of conditioning, missing players - caught up to the Gamecocks. They made just one field goal, a putback dunk by Wildens Leveque with 13 seconds left, over the final 7:45 of the game. South Carolina missed 11 straight shots and 12 of its final 13, as its shooting percentage fell from 54% to 45%.

The last basket was a jumper by Keyshawn Bryant, who scored a career-high 26 points in his first game in six weeks. That basket put South Carolina up 72-64, but the offense stalled.

At times in the first half, both out of necessity and effectiveness, South Carolina played five guards. It worked against LSU’s full-court zone defense, with five players sharing the ball and streaking to the basket. That faded in the second half, according to acting head coach Bruce Shingler.

“I think we got out of rhythm,” he said. “We got a little stagnant. The ball was sticking too much and we were taking a lot of first pass shots.”

Lawson scored 18 in the first half, but just four on 1-7 shooting in the second half (although he did have four assists). Instead of taking shots in rhythm, he was often trying to create one-on-one. And everything, whether it was a three by Lawson or a layup by Jermaine Couisnard, was coming up short. Due to COVID protocols, South Carolina had just one full practice this week, and that came on Friday. It was clear that the players had run out of gas.

“We are not one of excuses, but we are one of reality,” Shingler said. “Guys cramped, guys were fatigued.”

While South Carolina was fading, LSU’s stars were shining. Cameron Thomas, the SEC’s leading scorer, had 25 points, and Trendon Watford had 23 including 9-10 from the foul line. They combined to score 17 of LSU's last 18 points (only the final point, a free throw by Mwani Wilkinson, came from someone else).

Notes:

Bryant also had seven rebounds and a career-high four blocks, all four in the first half. … LSU shot 32 free throws, South Carolina shot 14. Shingler, still learning the art of criticizing officiating, said, “We were being aggressive as well as them. They shot 32, we shot 14.” … Of his first game as a head coach, Shingler said, “I’ll look back at the film and I’ll probably kick myself over things I could have did or should have did.” … Despite the win, LSU coach Will Wade was seen screaming at the officials as the walked off the court following the game. … TJ Moss also played for the first time since the Houston game, but only played 11 quiet minutes. ... South Carolina’s next game is Tuesday at Missouri.