South Carolina had the opportunity to make a statement by defeating its first ranked opponent of the season on the road.

The Gamecocks were unable to follow through on that goal and fell, 87-71, on the road to No. 16 Indiana at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers (3-0) missed their first four shots before making their next seven en route to a 17-1 run in pulling away early from the Gamecocks (2-2).

Indiana’s Myles Rice, a Columbia, S.C., native, ignited the Hoosiers' offense with a game-high 23 points, including 17 in the first half.

The Gamecocks were down double digits for most of the contest, but hung around by scoring in small chunks in the second half.

“I think we competed well overall in terms of how hard we were playing and what we were trying to get done,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said after the loss.

Sophomore Morris Ugusuk led all Gamecocks scorers with 18 points. Senior Nick Pringle notched a double-double with 13 points — all in the second half — and 11 rebounds. Senior Jamarii Thomas added 13 points and four assists, while senior Myles Stute had 11.

Sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles, the team’s leading scorer, had a particularly tough afternoon and was in foul trouble. He fouled out in the second half, finishing with a team-high four turnovers. He had just two points.

“I think he got frustrated overall on the day,” Paris said when asked about Murray-Boyles’ low production. “It’s hard to play once frustration sets in. I think it’s an athlete’s worst enemy.”

South Carolina will look to bounce back when it hosts Mercer on Thursday.

Here are three observations from the loss:

Going hard in the paint

It was important for the Gamecocks to slow down the Hoosiers’ frontcourt to give themselves a chance to pull off the upset. That didn’t happen.

As expected, Indiana had a clear focus on getting the ball down low. South Carolina had a good start with stopping that, forcing IU to miss its first three shots from the paint.

The Gamecocks came in with a concerted effort to play physical against Hoosier big men, often pushing them off their spots and making them uncomfortable. That, in combination with double teams coming when the ball reached the post, made things harder for the Hoosiers.

However, that also opened up space for the shooters to get going. Ten of the points IU scored on its 14-0 run early in the game came from jump shots, rather than from the inside.

The Hoosiers’ starting big men combined for 37 points, a season low.

Found the stroke

South Carolina hasn’t shot the 3-ball well all season, but the Gamecocks started to knock down those shots against Indiana.

It was needed. After a 17-5 deficit early, they started launching 3-pointers to get back in the game.

They attempted 20 shots from downtown before intermission. Ugusuk and Stute were essentially the entire offense for South Carolina in the first half. They knocked down seven 3-pointers in the the period and combined for 23 of the Gamecocks’ 32 points before the break.

They didn’t have the same production in the second half, going 1 of 9 from behind the arc.

A warm reception

Paris is very familiar with Indiana basketball, having spent seven years in the Big Ten as an assistant at Wisconsin. He knew how tough it would be coming into Assembly Hall. The Gamecocks needed to get off to a quick start and take the Indiana crowd out of it early.

The crowd was rowdy and rambunctious from the top. They exploded when Indiana’s Kanaan Carlyle slammed down an alley-oop pass from Rice, a highlight of the Hoosiers’ 7-0 run that extended the lead back to double digits toward the end of the first half.

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