Down 40-33 at the half it didn’t appear South Carolina would be able to produce on a stage they had never been on before, but with another dominate 2nd half the Gamecocks rolled by down the stretch for a 77-70 win over SEC rival Florida and head to Phoenix, Arizona for the Final Four.
Thornwell was too much too handle in key stretches in the 2nd half as South Carolina was getting lots of production in the paint. Meanwhile, Florida went from making 7 three point shots in the first half to going 0 for 14 from deep in the 2nd half… in the end analysis, the inability to make a shot in the clutch killed the Gators.
South Carolina stiffened on defense again in the 2nd half and that allowed them to flip the script and take the half 44-30… Cocks also used a similar formula to get past Duke in the 2nd round. Well coordinated defense in key half court sets allowed USC to get the needed stops and the leaders of the team took care of the rest. 42-18 points in the paint advantage for the Cocks.
Now two teams, Gonzaga and South Carolina, are in the 2017 Final Four with neither school ever making it to this stage previously. Only one slot left to determine and that game gets going shortly… two college basketball blue bloods will finish off the bracket as North Carolina and Kentucky take to the court to win the South region.
The GWC - Sports Handicapping 