NASHVILLE — Down, but not out.
South Carolina men’s basketball is heading home from the SEC Tournament after an ugly showing against Auburn, facts Lamont Paris was not shy about pointing out after his team’s 86-55 loss.
“We didn't play well today,” Paris said. “At this time of the year that means they make you go home.”
Auburn (25-7) might be the worst possible match-up for this particular South Carolina (26-7) team. They were better in transition, far more physical and overwhelmingly better in terms of shooting; in fact the 28.1 percent clip South Carolina registered was the second-lowest shooting percentage out of 65 games in the Paris era.
For a lot of teams a conference tournament loss is a season-ender, but South Carolina has earned the privilege of more basektball after its stellar regular season. The Gamecocks will collect themselves, travel back to Columbia, and watch the selection show together at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
At some point within the hour a South Carolina logo will pop up, confirming the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 along with the match-up and location.
“I've been on the other side of the boat where your season ends here,” guard Jacobi Wright said. “It feels good that we have some season left. We're going to keep our heads up and look forward to figuring out where we play, get ready to work towards that.”
Right now the Gamecocks do not know who they will be playing. They do not know when they will be playing, with start times ranging anywhere from 12:15 p.m. Thursday and after 10:00 p.m. Friday. The location could be a 90-minute jaunt to Charlotte or a five-hour flight to Spokane with six other optoins scattered between the extremes.
But they know they are going, and will get to experience the rush of the selection show. For many of these Gamecocks, it will be their first opportunity.
One member of the staff well aware of everything Sunday and the proceeding week will entail is Paris, a veteran of nine NCAA Tournaments between time at Akron, Wisconsin and Chattanooga.
“The silver lining in it is that we got a couple guys banged up,” Paris said after the loss. “Myles Stute, as you noticed today, was not dressed out. That's more time for guys like him. Ta'Lon [Cooper] looked like he was banged up a little bit today. I didn't have him back in towards the end of the game. I think what it does is give guys some time to rest up and heal up and get treatment and recover. I think that's a big part of it.”
All season South Carolina has made a habit of bouncing back from losses. The last loss to Auburn was actually followed by another defeat for the team’s only two-game losing streak of the season, only to rip off five of the next six games.
The ultimate end goal, that dangling carrot every team in college basketball shoots for starting in November, is coming. Perhaps a 31-point loss might not be the way South Carolina wanted to enter it, but it hardly dampens the accomplishment or what Sunday will mean to everyone associated with the program.
“We'll wake up tomorrow morning, fly back to Columbia, and the excitement will start about what the next adventure is for us,” Paris said. “It will be a really special moment for us to be able to see our names called and start the preparation process for more survive and advance.”
No Gamecock will mind any location. A tournament game on the moon would still be a tournament game. But with 26 wins in the bank and no thoughts of bursted bubbles or any disappointment, Meechie Johnson decided to dream a little bigger.
"Definitely would love to be able to play in Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, somewhere close to home [Cleveland]” Johnson said. “Seeing my whole family there would mean a lot. If God's willing to do that, it would be a blessing."
Where, not if was on his mind.
That notion alone is an accomplishment and a reminder of the bigger fish this group still has to fry. They left no doubt, and did so long before ever stepping off the plane in Nashville.
Let the madness begin.
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