How USC men’s basketball looked in exhibition win over Wofford

Remember this: Exhibitions don’t count. The score doesn’t matter. Who USC plays doesn’t matter.

All that matters to the Gamecocks is they’ve played another team and can see what adjustments need to be made before the home opener against USC Upstate next week.

So while Wednesday’s 60-57 win over the Wofford Terriers won’t count toward the season’s record, the Gamecocks can take away a big positive: They found a way to win.

Fixing up the slow start

Perhaps that slow start should take priority. Could it be the first full-game jitters, even if it’s an exhibition? Potentially. But it’s similar to what happened during the intrasquad scrimmage USC held last week during Garnet & Black Madness night.

Wofford easily jumped out to an 11-4 lead just two minutes into Wednesday’s game at Colonial Life Arena. USC didn’t score a 3-pointer until late in the first half. The Gamecocks were out-rebounded 23-17 by halftime.

That’s not sustainable for USC this season, regardless of the exhibition’s final result. The 17-point deficit looked like a steep mountain to climb. It won’t be easy to climb a mountain like that every game in the regular season — particularly in conference play — and the Gamecocks know that.

“We let them throw the first punch, really,” transfer guard Myles Stute said. “We didn’t come out aggressive enough. We didn’t come out how we talked about coming out throughout the past couple of weeks.”

USC coach Lamont Paris said he liked playing Wofford for this exhibition because of the aggression and physicality the Terriers came out with. He’s used to seeing it, with his five years in the Southern Conference. That didn’t change how quickly the Gamecocks realized what Wofford could do, or how the home team reacted.

“You’re gonna want to call for mercy and hit that panic button and we didn’t hit the panic button,” Head coach Paris said. “So I thought that was really good.”

Who stood out?

Stute made his true USC debut and proved why he’ll be an asset during the dog days of the season. When the Gamecocks struggled to hit a 3-pointer, Stute was the first to sink one. When USC couldn’t get a rebound, Stute ended the game with 11 boards — giving him the only double-double of the night.

While he didn’t score, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk had two offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points and had two assists. The senior forward earned Paris’ praise following the win.

“You may not have thought was playing well because he had no field goal attempts.” Paris said. “He also had two big offensive rebounds, a couple assists, and generated some wide-open shots for us. And while he was in the game, his plus-minus was higher than anybody’s on the entire team.”

And with veteran guard Meechie Johnson only scoring two points in the exhibition game, having Stute, Zachary Davis and BJ Mack all pick up double-digit points can put Paris and the offensive-minded Gamecocks at ease. It doesn’t all have to be on Johnson, nor should it be on one particular player at any point, Paris said.

Creating the starting five, and who subs next

Johnson, Mack, Stute, Stephen Clark and Ta’Lon Cooper made up the starting five. It’s safe to assume that that crew could stick together this season.

There’s not a guarantee that will happen, Paris said, but based on what the head coach has seen in practice and who he felt was gelling together best, those were the first five.

“If you notice, there weren’t nearly as many substitutions as we’re coming down the stretch,” Paris explained. “It’s that group that has gotten us there. If there’s something that they do, or there’s a foul situation or a sheer fatigue scenario, then I’ll make substitutions.”

USC’s current depth, even without freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles (illness), could allow Paris to shuffle the lineup as the game develops, too. He said he gave it a try, which allowed Bosmans-Verdonk and Davis to play as long as they did.

Without Murray-Boyles for the foreseeable future, Paris said there’s an extra level of physicality missing from this group. And he won’t know the exact impact once the true freshman returns — making his absence felt harder. Mack and Bosmans-Verdonk have a physical element to their game. That could alleviate some extra pressure for now.

“You look at a game like this and some of the things that were troublesome to us, rebounding situations, not being able to take advantage of physical advantages around the rim,” Paris said. “And so I mean, it definitely hurts us. He’s a talented player.”

Next four USC basketball games

Nov. 6 - vs. USC Upstate, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

Nov. 10 - Virginia Tech/Hall of Fame Series in Charlotte (ACC Network)

Nov. 13 - vs. VMI, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

Nov. 17 - DePaul (Arizona Tip-Off Tournament), 11:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)