South Carolina’s season came to an end on Thursday night, with Ole Miss leaving the second round of the SEC Tournament. Gamecocks # 11 (6-15) lost 76-59 to rebels # 6, who advanced to face the No. 3 seed LSU in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The two teams were tied for 15 in the first 10 minutes of play, with Gamecocks throwing more than 40 percent. When the rebels began to warm up offensively, this 2020-21 Gamecock team typically struggled to keep up.
They were defeated by 26-11 in the last 10 minutes of the first half, with a 15-point drop in the interval. In addition to an 8-0 run at the start of the second half to reduce the Mississippi lead to nine points, Carolina’s insufficient attack failed to reduce the lead to less than double digits for the rest of the match. Ole Miss led with 18 points three times in the second half. Gamecocks fired only 36 percent of the field. Season’s top scorer and SEC team’s second guard AJ Lawson (16.9 ppg) was maintained at 12 points on 3 of 12 pitches from the field.
“We were bitten by the same insect that stung us all year”, the head coach Frank Martin said postgame. “We were not physical enough and offensively you need to score. We managed to score from our big players and we didn’t get anything from our guards. If you can’t jump, you can’t reach the line and you can’t make layups, it will be difficult to defeat a team like Ole Miss, who has some really aggressive scoring guards. “
Minutes before the game it was announced that the Gamecocks would be without three players, each starting at least eight games this season; senior guard Seventh woodssecond year guard red t-shirt Jermaine Couisnard and junior forward Keyshawn Bryant.
Woods was excluded due to a groin injury, which he suffered at the end of the regular season against Kentucky. Couisnard lost that game against the Wildcats due to a rib injury. However, there was no known injury to Bryant, who played against the United Kingdom and was the team’s second highest scorer of the season (14.4 ppg). The SEC Network broadcast labeled why Couisnard and Bryant were out as “coach’s decision.” Martin said that after the game all three players were dealing with physical illnesses.
“All three are dealing with physical injuries and the mental damage it caused to all three is not fair,” said Martin. “It has been extremely difficult and I will not put victory in games above the physical and mental health of young people.
“I am mentally concerned where they are. I can’t be more honest than that. I will take care of my players in all circumstances. They need to be in a place where they are at peace and enjoy the moment and the game. … Breach of team rules, it is not what it is. This year has been ridiculously draining for our players, both mentally and physically. (They) were locked up in an apartment for seven weeks. I don’t know why this is so difficult to understand. “
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The Gamecocks ended the season’s defeat in nine of their last 10 games. Seven of those losses were decided by double digits. Seven games were canceled this season due to three different pauses in team activity due to the covid-19 health and safety protocols. The overall record of 6-15 marks the sequence of six seasons in South Carolina, which ended with a victory or even a record, which dates back to the 2014-15 season.
“If you mean that I trained poorly, feel free,” said Martin when asked about the season. “But to say that this season has been disappointing after what our players have been through this year is sad. You mean I’m not good at my job, I play fair. It has been difficult, a very difficult year.
“We have a certain way of doing things. What we do is based on a daily work ethic approach, commitment to understanding, repetition that creates the hardness and connectivity that our teams have always played with, here and before I arrived in South Carolina. Unfortunately, this year has been very difficult. The disappointing word would not be a word that I would describe what we have been through. “