After going 26-8 and gaining a berth in the NCAA Tournament in a magical season in which it was picked to finish last in the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina is struggling to rediscover the same cohesion.

The search continues Thursday night when the Gamecocks (2-2) host Mercer (2-2) in Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina is coming off an 87-71 loss Saturday at No. 16 Indiana. After the Hoosiers hit the Gamecocks with an early 14-0 blitz, they never trailed.

Indiana outshot South Carolina from the floor, 51.0 percent to 38.1 percent, and from beyond the arc, where they hit 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) compared to 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) for the Gamecocks.

“In terms of our effort and how hard we played and how competitive we were, I got no complaints about that whatsoever,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said.

South Carolina struggled at both ends of the floor as its top threat, Collin Murray-Boyles, tallied just two points before fouling out. The sophomore averages 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

“He’s a good defender. He’s a good rebounder. Just his presence on the court tends to set the tone for what we’re doing defensively,” Paris said. “So to not have him out there is very impactful.”

Morris Ugusuk scored a career-high 18 points off the bench and Nick Pringle added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Gamecocks.

Mercer also is coming off a road loss on Saturday as it fell 75-66 at South Alabama despite Tyler Johnson’s 26-point effort.

Guided by first-year coach Ryan Ridder, the Bears play up-tempo, using a deep rotation and a pressure defense that has forced 14 steals per game, which was tied for the third most in Division I entering play on Wednesday.

Helping key the defense are big men Alex Holt and Marcus Overstreet, who average a combined 16.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

“Those two guys for 40 minutes, they’re tough to handle,” Ridder said. “They’re both big, they’re physical. They do anything we ask them to do.”

–Field Level Media