The Rise and Fall of South Carolina Basketball in 2016

The first viral social media trend to emerge in 2026 has nothing to do with a major event from this year. Rather, it revolves around what happened one decade ago in 2016. At that time, the South Carolina men’s basketball program was at the peak of its powers. The Gamecocks tied a program record for wins in a single season (25) during the 2015-16 campaign, only to surpass that mark by one and reach the NCAA Final Four in 2016-17.

South Carolina’s most significant accomplishment in the last decade of its all-time series against Auburn also took place that year. The Gamecocks earned an 81-69 victory over the Tigers in Neville Arena on Jan. 5, 2016. However, since then, they haven’t traveled to Auburn and returned home with a win in four attempts. That trend continued on Saturday, as South Carolina fell 71-67 to the Tigers and dropped to 1-4 in SEC play on the season.

A Struggling Start

It appeared to be a game neither team wanted to win from the outset. Both squads had lengthy scoring droughts early in the opening period. First-half turnovers (seven for South Carolina, and six for Auburn) and fouls (11 and nine, respectively) stifled momentum and offensive possessions on opposite ends of the court.

The Tigers made just 10 of their 30 field goal attempts (33.3 percent), while the Gamecocks (10-8 overall) shot from a 25.0 percent clip (7-28), over the course of the opening period. Three-pointers were a more evident source of struggle, as the two squads went a combined 3-23 from behind the arc.

Offensive Improvements

As the game went along, both teams’ offenses improved — but in different ways. South Carolina leaned more heavily on its strengths, while Auburn aimed to exploit its opponent’s most glaring weakness: its lack of presence in the paint.

The Gamecocks focused its efforts on generating points from long-range shots. They did so successfully, making six of their 13 attempts from deep. That played a part in their overall shooting improving to 39.7 percent (23-58) after 40 minutes of play.

In the meantime, Auburn’s struggles from distance persisted; it finished the contest with a 10.5 three-point percentage (2-19). Yet that didn’t prove to be much of a problem, as it consistently attacked the rim. The Tigers outscored South Carolina 42-26 in the paint, despite being out-rebounded 39-35, and made 11 of its 20 layups, along with five dunks.

Key Players

Auburn also had the game’s most dangerous offensive player on its side in Filip Jović. He provided the home team with a spark off the bench, consistently driving to the basket en route to a career-high scoring display. By the time the first-half buzzer sounded, he had already scored 13 points. That success carried into the second period, as he finished the contest with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

The majority of South Carolina’s offense came from Meechie Johnson. After dropping 29 points on a ranked Arkansas squad on Wednesday, Johnson led his team in scoring again with 17 — nine of which came on deep three-pointers.

He also played an integral role in the Gamecocks’ near-comeback attempt, stealing the ball on an inbound and feeding it to Kevin Knox for a layup with 32 seconds remaining. His final long-range three with just four seconds later cut Auburn’s lead down to two points.

South Carolina quickly fouled Kevin Overton on the next play, and he iced the game and put the Tigers firmly ahead with two free throws.

Upcoming Matches

South Carolina will return to the friendly confines of Colonial Life Arena and take on Oklahoma on Tuesday. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.