5 takeaways from Auburn’s loss to South Carolina

No. 1: Too many turnovers

The obvious fail for the Auburn team in their loss to the Gamecocks was the amount of turnovers they piled up, specifically in the first half when South Carolina held an 18 point lead. Auburn turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, leading to 23 points for the Gamecocks. The Tigers actually held onto the ball much better in the second half, but they still finished with a season-high 21 turnovers.

South Carolina’s success comes from their pressure defense, and Auburn played right into their strength in the first half as they kept giving the ball away. They managed to rally in the second half because they did a much better job of not turning the ball over, and they actually forced the Gamecocks to turn it over more in the second half. However, it was too late as they couldn’t recover from their disastrous first half.

No. 2: Tyler Harris is on fire

We joked about the corn rows in our last takeaways article, but seriously, dude has been on a mission these past two games. He hit his first nine shots in the South Carolina game and finished with a team-high 22 points and 6 rebounds.

When the Tigers were making their comeback in the second half he was calling for the ball down low and dominating the Gamecocks in the paint. In the past two games, both against SEC opponents, Harris is averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds a game. If he continues to play with that kind of intensity and fire, the Tigers are going to be all right.

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No. 3: Bowers has gone cold

As hot as Harris has been, Bowers has been equally as cold in Auburn’s first two SEC games. After finishing the South Carolina game with just 3 points and 3 rebounds, he’s now averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds against SEC opponents.

Maybe it’s time for Pearl to switch back up his gameplan for how to use Bowers as he obviously isn’t as effective off the bench right now. When he comes into the game he’s trying to take over and acts like the offense runs through him. He just needs to play his game in the post and draw fouls. Pearl has to find a way to settle him down because Auburn needs him to get back to his double-double performances.

No. 4: Lack of depth a problem

It’s great that Harris and Canty combined for 43 points against South Carolina, but when the rest of the team only scored 26 points – with 11 of those coming from Bryce Brown – it doesn’t do much good. Bowers was the only player who scored off the bench against the Gamecocks, which makes it simply impossible for Auburn to win games.

I know they are beat up with injuries and an ineligible player, but someone on that bench has to step up as a scorer – would be nice if it were Bowers – to give the starters some rest. TJ Lang was able to play against South Carolina, but his minutes were limited after the concussion symptoms he had in the Tennessee game after a hit to the face. He and Bowers really have to be able to contribute offensively if this team is going to win in the SEC.

No. 5: They continued to fight

The fact that the Tigers only lost by 12 points to the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks despite turning the ball over 21 times and playing with a depleted roster points to the fact that this team just doesn’t give up. When they were down 18 in the first half it looked like this game was about to get ugly, but then Auburn went on a 5-0 run before the half and eventually got all the way back within five points.

This team knows it’s undermanned right now, but that’s not keeping them from fighting each and every night out. It would have been easy to just lay down and take a beating from the Gamecocks, but instead they kept fighting their way back into the game and made South Carolina earn this victory. I was proud of the way this Auburn team continued to fight.

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