Anyone knows that in order to beat a number one team, your whole team has to play to their potential.

South Carolina had a chance to pull off their biggest upset since a win against Duke in 2017. However, they failed to beat the incredibly talented Volunteers, who won 92-70. The one bright spot for the Gamecocks was that senior Chris Silva put up 28 points and ten rebounds.

One issue with South Carolina was that they lacked consistency with shooting. Silva finished just above 50 percent, but no other Gamecock made more than four field goals. South Carolina has relied on freshman AJ Lawson to be their shooter, but he finished 4-13 for only nine points. Tre Campbell had 12 points, but he still only took four shots. That would be fine against a lower tier SEC team, but it wasn’t enough to beat the number one team.

The most confusing stat of this game was that freshman play-maker Keyshawn Bryant only played ten minutes. He struggled Tuesday night, finishing with zero points and three fouls,. Bryant has been important for getting the home crowd excited with his amazing dunking ability but he couldn’t make a shot.

The defense didn’t help either as they failed to shut down Tennessee star Admiral Schofield, who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds. They also let Grant Williams put up 23 points and nine rebounds. Although it wasn’t all on the defense, they could’ve done a slightly better job in stopping the Vols, especially at home.

South Carolina will look to bounce back on the road against a hungry Georgia team on Saturday.