I agree that Rice & Carlyle look like gamers.
Ballo certainly has his limitations. The Pringle kid (#5) from SC matched him on rebounds and points. Ballo had his hands full with him the last 10 minutes. The kid was a part-timer for Bama last year, although someone said he had a good tourney.
After the first two games I was really wondering how Ballo was named DP of the Year in the PAC 12 last year. He got beat several times by guys 3-4 inched shorter.
What I think I saw from him Saturday is that he is a better team defender than he is as an individual. He takes up a lot of space in the lane and showed pretty good anticipation toward their drives. Being a space eater is important because, as you say, neither Mgbako nor MR are very aggressive.
As to the results of this game.......SC was picked #11 preseason in the 16 team SEC, and lost to North Florida at home in game 1, but I do think they will finish in the top 1/2 of that conference. They competed hard and had some skills.
I hate the mass substitution, and it once again came back to bite us in the ass. Mbako was off to a great start, and he never did get back in the same groove. I sure wish that, at the least, when a shooter has the hot hand he be allowed to stay in a few minutes longer.
That said, I don't think a lot of teams have 6-8 guys as good as Galloway, Tucker, and Goode. Tucker looks more like a top 35 kid than a top 15. He looks like he'll be in college a few years. But he's got some skills and a good attitude, and could be a very good college player by year 3.