Both on the road and at home this season, South Carolina has struggled to fall into offensive lapses that make it struggle to get back to the games. Gamecocks were able to overcome small deficits for Florida on the road last week, but more often than not, droughts in the second half led to almost all seven defeats this season.
Defeated by Liberty, Houston, LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Vanderbilt and, most recently, the state of Mississippi, the Gamecocks maintained the lead in the second half against Houston, LSU and MSU and lost all three. Against Liberty, Missouri, Auburn and Vanderbilt, they were victims of long runs by the opposition and were battling double-digit deficits for the rest of the regulation.
On the road against now – No. 8 Houston they were tied for 40-40 with 17:03 left to play and lost 77-67 after a scoring drought. They led LSU 73-72 with 4:47 to the end of the game and lost 85-80 because they couldn’t get it right for more than five minutes. On Saturday, against the State of Mississippi, Frank Martin’s team maintained a 47-45 lead after overcoming a gap deficit. The Bulldogs then ran a 16-2 run over a six-minute period.
“With 14 minutes left, we were 47-45,” head coach Frank Martin said coming out of Saturday’s defeat. “At the moment we have good times and then we have moments like that six or seven minute stretch in the second half and I have no idea why that is. The bottom line is that we didn’t play as hard and disciplined as we needed to, as we tried to play in the first 25 minutes of the game. Suddenly, we hit that pocket that punches us, which is what happened to Liberty. It happened in Houston, it had an advantage and then a bad stretch. When you start to bleed, you must stop the bleeding. We cannot stop the bleeding. When we start to bleed, instead of being an 8-0 race, it’s a 15-0 race and it’s very difficult to recover when you have that moment of a game against quality opponents. “
Martin says he has staff, but getting everything clicked for 40 minutes has been a problem. He doesn’t feel alone after talking to an important coach recently.
“I believe that the talent is there. I believe there is goodwill, ”said Martin. “I talked to Tom Izzo another day and he is struggling with the same things. Because of the environment we lived in last year, a mindset was created that when things get really tough, you throw in the towel. As a coach, I’m not saying that I’m fighting it, but you’re trying to manage it. I liked this team from day one. I see the flashes and all the good that can be there. “
Repeating the same game flow against Alabama’s No. 11 at home on Tuesday night would likely represent the most difficult return of the season due to the aggression Nate Oats‘team plays with.
“Alabama is a different animal,” said Martin. “Their hitting comes offensively when they direct the ball, lower their heads and will force you to help. If you help, they kick (the ball for the pitchers). They do an unbelievable job of making decisions early, not late, when they carry the ball. They film many trios. There are a lot of long rebounds and you are caught fighting because you are trying to help move and then get back to the snipers. “
Gamecocks (5-7, 3-5) host the SEC’s leading Crimson Tide at 6:30 pm on the SEC Network Tuesday. It is the second game of a three game family home.