No. 1 seed South Carolina is attempting to become the first team to go back-to-back as national champions since UConn won four in a row from 2013-16, and the Gameocks got their title defense off to an impressive start on Friday with a 108-48 win over No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said early in the SEC Tournament, which the Gamecocks later won in dominant fashion, that her team was playing its best basketball of the season. It’s hard to argue that fact after yet another emphatic victory. Since their loss to UConn on Feb. 16, South Carolina has gone 8-0 and won all of those games by at least 16 points.
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The competition is going to get much tougher than Tennessee Tech as the tournament goes along, starting with No. 9 seed Indiana in the second round on Sunday. But if the Gamecocks keep playing like they have been in the last month, it’s going to be difficult for anyone to beat them.
Ahead of their second-round showdown with the Hoosiers, a rematch from the Sweet 16 last season, here’s a look at the Gamecocks’ historic win over the Golden Eagles, by the numbers.
108
South Carolina poured in 108 points on Friday, which was not only a season-high, but a new school record for an NCAA Tournament game. The mark was also tied for the seventh-most points in a tourney game by any team since 2003.
60
The Gamecocks’ 60-point win set a new school record for margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game. Prior to this, their biggest win in a tournament game was 58 points over Howard in the first round in 2022. Furthermore, this was the first time any team has won a tournament game by 60-plus points since UConn beat St. Francis in the first round in 2018 by a whopping 88 points. (The box score for that game is well worth checking out.)
12
All 12 healthy South Carolina players — Ashlyn Watkins is out for the season with a torn ACL — got into the game and scored against Tennessee Tech. In fact, a number of the bench players got more minutes than the starters due to the nature of the game. Joyce Edwards led the way with 22 points, while Maddy McDaniel was on the opposite end of the spectrum with two.
58
South Carolina led the country in points in the paint per game during the regular season with 42.6. They far surpassed that average on Friday with 58 as they overwhelmed the undersized Golden Eagles. Perhaps the most remarkable fact from the Gamecocks’ win is that they still would have won by double digits if only their paint points were counted: 58-48.
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