For more than 35 years, South Carolina coach Frank Martin has been known as a fighter, and his teams are known for their endurance.
But Martin is confused this season by his Gamecocks (6-13, 4-11 SEC), which were dismantled by No. 12 Arkansas 101-73 on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.
“We just left the gym,” said Martin. “Defensively, we simply did not put up any fight or resistance. Offensively, we played selfishly, which was all we talked about when entering the game – don’t make bad moves, because when you do, they score every time. All we did was take bad pictures.
“We just ran out of the gym. They are good and we had no answer for them tonight. “
Moses Moody had the best score in the game, 28 points, Justin Smith 22, JD Notae 21 and Desi Sills 15 while the Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4) hit 15 points from three points by winning their tenth consecutive SEC game.
This is the largest number of consecutive conference wins for an Arkansas team since the 1993-94 season, when the Razorbacks won 12 in a row against the SEC competition, including a game in the SEC Tournament.
Martin was impressed with Moody, who also had seven rebounds and no turns in 34 minutes.
“Very good player,” said Martin. “I mean, a very good player. We make it a lot easier for him. I don’t think he even started to sweat trying to score. We were undisciplined. We played with him.
“They have good players. When you let good players feel comfortable, they play very, very well. We never make you uncomfortable. That’s what you get when you play against one of the top 15 teams in the country and you don’t fight defensively with which you have to play and you don’t play with offensive discipline. “
Martin was perplexed to see how his team timidly attacked Connor Vanover, a 7- to 3-year-old forward in Arkansas.
“I thought we tried to attack the ledge, but there’s a 7-3 guy standing right in front of the ledge,” said Martin. you will not score.
“But offensively, really selfish. Bad shot after bad shot after bad shot. Bad defense. If you’re going to take a bad shot, then defensively, you need to get it back. We don’t fight. “
Arkansas, who led 49-32 at halftime, faced a defensive zone to start the game and seemed to really come to life when South Carolina switched to a man-to-man defense.
“At the beginning of the game we were in that zone and they were trying to figure out how to attack the zone,” said Martin. “So we were a man and when we were a man they came to us and we fought zero. So, when we got back to the area, they had that aggression and remained in our area and in our man.
“We just didn’t have a defensive resolution.”
South Carolina, which Martin led to the Final Four in 2017, has two SEC wins over Georgia this season, one over Florida and one over Texas A&M.
But Gamecocks were 1-7 in their last eight games.
“It’s just one of those years, man,” said Martin. “We have good parts and when the parts work well together, we represent our team in the right way. Obviously, more times than not, our parts have not connected.
“We have a lot of guys who are playing for me and not us and that is unfortunate. We have to keep trying to find that out. Because, basically, a year ago with the same people, that was not the case. “
Martin seemed to indicate that there are some issues outside the court.
“This has been a generally confusing year,” said Martin. “It caught me off guard. I didn’t expect some of the things we’re dealing with and I’m not talking about greed. It’s a team thing.
“This was not the case before. We have guys who have been here for three or four years and it was not their case before and suddenly this has become a problem now. We have to find out, but this is not the time to find out. You do this in the off-season.
Martin was asked if it is too late to resolve the issues with the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, which is approaching next week.
“I have veterans and we’re playing like this now, so I don’t have an answer for you,” said Martin. “Selfish basketball has never been a hallmark of my team. This is the year 36 or 37 and I’m leaving the way it was never a trademark of my team … and this is the first time that we haven’t fought defensively this year. I will not speak tonight, this year. And we play disarticulated in the attack ”.
Martin’s team has been described in the past as a tough, physical team that wins ugly matches.
“People may not like the way my teams play, but those two things have never been part of any team with which I have been associated – this is selfish offense and getting out of the way defensively,” said Martin. “Sometimes we do this this year and it is really frustrating. I’m telling you that this group of guys hasn’t done that before. “