South Carolina Basketball Hits the Bye Week with Two Very Different Stories to Tell
It’s February in Columbia, and that means one thing: it’s time to start shaping - or saving - resumes for March. Both South Carolina basketball teams are in their bye weeks, a brief but crucial pause before the final push toward postseason play. And while the men’s and women’s squads don’t tip off again until Feb. 14 - oddly, both at 8:30 p.m. - they’re using this downtime very differently.
Let’s break down where each program stands, what they’re working on, and what they’ll need to turn wishes into wins.
Lamont Paris and the Men’s Team: Searching for Toughness, and a Turnaround
For Lamont Paris and the Gamecock men, the bye week arrives during a brutal stretch. They’ve dropped five straight, and for the second consecutive season, they’re staring at a steep climb just to get back into postseason conversations.
The road ahead? It’s not forgiving.
South Carolina’s next two games are on the road, and neither destination has been kind to Paris. First up: a trip to Alabama, a state where he’s yet to notch a win.
After that, it’s a visit to the defending national champions - the same team that handed Paris the most lopsided loss of his tenure earlier this season.
It’s not just the schedule working against them. This team is undersized, outmuscled, and struggling to find answers in the paint.
The roster construction has forced USC to play small, often out of necessity rather than strategy. The result?
Opposing teams are feasting inside, pounding the ball into the post and dominating the glass.
Take Missouri, for example. The Tigers outrebounded South Carolina by 16 and turned 16 offensive boards into 16 second-chance points. That’s the kind of math no coach wants to see - and Paris didn’t sugarcoat it afterward.
“I’m not saying who does what in the weight room,” Paris said. “I’m saying who’s willing to do what physically.”
That’s been the theme lately: physicality, or the lack of it. Paris wants more fight, more grit - and he’s not getting it consistently. He spoke candidly about the need to match opponents’ aggression, even if it means adjusting mid-game to how things are being called.
“We fight fire with fire,” he said. “I’ll start off trying to do it a certain way, within the rules, not fouling.
But once I see this game is being called this way... I bet you we’re both going to be doing the same thing for the rest of the game.”
That fire-and-fight mentality is something Paris is trying to instill, but it’s not something that shows up overnight. And with no reinforcements coming - nobody’s growing three inches or adding 20 pounds of muscle in February - the Gamecocks have to find another way.
That way? Shot-making.
“This team was built to withstand off-shooting nights just on the volume of guys who can shoot,” Paris has said, and he’s repeated some version of that sentiment throughout the season. But the reality is, when the shots aren’t falling, South Carolina doesn’t have a Plan B that consistently works.
They’re trying to get to the rim more often, which has led to more trips to the free-throw line - a place where they’ve been solid. But their best recipe for success remains the one that earned them their only two SEC wins: come out hot, hit shots early, and force the opponent to play from behind.
That’s a tough formula to rely on, especially on the road. But with size mismatches and a short rotation, there aren’t many alternatives. The Gamecocks need to shoot their way back into relevance - or risk fading out of the picture entirely.
Dawn Staley and the Women’s Team: Rested, Recharged, and Ready for the Stretch Run
On the women’s side, the bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. After dismantling Tennessee in historic fashion - handing the Lady Vols their worst loss ever - Dawn Staley’s squad earned a well-deserved breather.
Injuries have been a recurring theme this season, and just as the Gamecocks started getting healthy, the bug bit again. Ta’Niya Latson and Agot Makeer both got banged up at Auburn on Jan. 29, and while Latson returned for the Tennessee game, Maddy McDaniel was the latest to go down. Tessa Johnson also sat out the second half against Mississippi State after taking a knock.
Still, even with just nine players available, South Carolina didn’t miss a beat. That’s been the story of the season - a team that doesn’t flinch, no matter who’s in or out.
And that mindset? It starts at the top.
“We don’t speak about the injured. We don’t speak about them,” Staley said. “Quite frankly, we consider them dead.”
It’s a bold statement, but the message is clear: no excuses. The Gamecocks focus on who’s available, not who’s missing. And that mentality has fueled a team that hasn’t let adversity derail its goals.
Now, with a massive showdown at No. 6 LSU looming, the hope is to have as close to a full roster as possible.
Not because they need every player to win - they’ve proven they can adapt - but because the stretch run is loaded with landmines. Four of South Carolina’s final five games are against Top-25 opponents.
Depth matters. So does health.
But if the Tennessee game is any indication, South Carolina is peaking at the right time. Shooting 69% from the field isn’t something you can count on every night, but the Gamecocks didn’t just rely on hot shooting - they overwhelmed the Lady Vols with execution, effort, and elite defense.
That’s what makes this team dangerous. They can win in different ways, with different lineups, and against different styles. And Staley, as always, is focused on the process more than the praise.
What Comes Next
For the men, it’s about survival and identity. Can they reclaim some of the fire that sparked earlier wins?
Can they shoot their way out of this slump and steal a few on the road? The margin for error is razor-thin, and the clock is ticking.
For the women, it’s about fine-tuning and finishing strong. The pieces are there.
The mindset is there. Now it’s about staying healthy and sharp with March looming.
Two teams. Two very different trajectories. But one shared goal: be ready when the lights get brighter.