South Carolina MBB handles Florida A&M, notches 12th win ahead of SEC play

Dwayne Mclemore
·3 min read

Twelve wins before January.

It’s not uncharted territory for the South Carolina men’s basketball program, but it’s a clear improvement over recent seasons — and one more victory than all of Lamont Paris’ 11-win debut a year ago.

The Gamecocks defeated Florida A&M 94-62 at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday, improving to 12-1 and wrapping up their nonconference schedule with plenty of momentum and renewed optimism heading into SEC play.

South Carolina has started 12-1 six times in school history and three times in the SEC era (1933-34, 1944-45, 1969-70, 2003-04, 2015-16 and 2023-24).

The 12-1 start is the first since the 2015-16 season under Frank Martin. That 2015-16 team finished 25-8 (11-7 SEC), a record worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration, but the Gamecocks were passed over and landed in the NIT instead. The 2023-24 Gamecocks have won nine straight games at home, also a first since 2015-16. That team started 13-0 at home.

While this year’s Gamecocks team is already earning NCAA Tournament consideration from such national bracketologists as CBS’ Jerry Palm, there are still 18 SEC games and a conference tournament to be played.

Florida A&M dropped to 2-9 on the season with the loss.

Meechie Johnson returns

South Carolina veteran guard Meechie Johnson returned to the lineup Saturday after missing one game with a right knee injury.

Paris on Dec. 22 said Johnson was dealing with inflammation and that the injury wasn’t structural. Johnson entered the game leading the team in scoring with a 18.3-point per-game average. He was averaging 28.7 minutes per game and played 22 on Saturday.

Johnson nailed his first shot attempt (a 3-pointer) and had back-to-back highlight-worthy assists to Zachary Davis around the 12- and 13-minute marks of the first half. He couldn’t find his shooting touch, however. He shot 1-of-8 in the first half, 3-of-12 overall and finished with 11 points and six assists.

Game recap

This was a South Carolina was supposed to win — and expected to dominate.

USC was a 24.5-point favorite, according to the VegasInsider consensus line. The Gamecocks entered the game No. 44 in the latest NET rankings, with Florida A&M No. 316 among 362 teams.

The game was tied at 19 with 10:14 to go in the first half. The Gamecocks then went on a 30-2 run, led Florida A&M 49-21 at halftime and never looked back.

On to SEC play for Gamecocks

South Carolina begins SEC play next weekend. Entering the weekend, USC’s overall record was second-best among league teams behind undefeated Ole Miss (12-0).

The Southeastern Conference had three teams ranked in the most recent Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25: Tennessee (6), Kentucky (8) and Ole Miss (24). Five other SEC teams were receiving votes in the poll, including the Gamecocks. (The others were Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Alabama).

USC starts conference play with games against Mississippi State and Alabama, two teams the AP voters in the latest Top 25 viewed as being mostly on par with the Gamecocks.

While the start of conference play naturally ratchets up the overall competition, South Carolina won’t face a ranked SEC foe until Kentucky (Jan. 23) and Tennessee (Jan. 30).

Next four games

  • Jan. 6: vs. Mississippi State, noon (CBS)

  • Jan. 9: at Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 13: at Missouri, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 16: vs. Georgia, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)