Following a 70-69 loss to Florida on Wednesday, South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris spoke to the media after the game. Below is a summary of what he had to say.

— As you can imagine, that loss stings. You played the body of the work of the game to win. But there were some plays that you can’t make down the stretch. It’s a tough game for the guys to play well enough to win but to come out with a loss.

— You gotta get on to the next one. There’s another game coming. This is the third game in which they’ve had the ball in the final minute and weren’t able to win.

— They weren’t aggressive when Florida went with the press defense. They weren’t strong with the ball. Most of the turnovers weren’t aggressive turnovers necessarily. Florida had to bring out the press because the situation dictated they needed to do it. USC wasn’t expecting it at first.

— The fans were really excited because USC played well. They got into it pretty quickly. It was good to have a really good crowd. It helps guys. But it didn’t help them at the end there.

— Met with a couple members of the staff before the game and told them to have them ready to where Collin Murray-Boyles is going to get the ball. It was more about getting the ball to him as many times as they could. Would’ve loved to see him more aggressive to command the ball late in the game. Wanted to make sure he got a bunch of touches. But had Florida guarded it differently, maybe he would’ve had a few more baskets.

— There’s a lot of learning that takes place in these games and these situations. Typically he likes to play in the broken floor. As they touch the ball, in his head he looked at 4.5 seconds when they were around the free throw line. On that last shot, you have to be on a mission to get to the rim. It will be a learning situation that you have to be more aggressive in those spots. But also, it will be a learning situation for him with not calling a timeout. He doesn’t want Florida to make substitutions or double the ball. Basically get a chance to reset right before the final shot.

— USC got the ball inbounds, which was step one on the press. They got the ball in bounds to perimeter players. That’s how you’ll usually draw it up. They have to handle it better. There’s no other way to say it. You have to be able to handle some pressure. Maybe they should’ve spent some more time in practice working on that. But it’s the game time. You’ve got to play.

— Jamarii Thomas worked out and did some things at the shoot around today and at practice yesterday. There’s a chance he could be back this weekend. It just depends on how he responds and what he does over these next few days. The thing will be seeing how the knee responds. Then they’ll make a decision from there.

— Certainly worries about how the losses stacking up could affect the players. All coaches worry about that. Thinks you worry about it because kids’ confidence are a little more fragile as he’s discovered in 2025. Hopefully they can just turn the page. Has no issues at all with how his guys come out in the face of five losses. They expected to win the game. They did that from start to finish.