Kept out of action for 10 days and without a complete roster and head coach Frank Martin, South Carolina went to Baton Rouge and played victorious basketball – but not enough to win. The Gamecocks held the lead for just under 34 of the 40 minutes of the game, but fell 85-80 to LSU.
South Carolina maintained a 72-64 lead after the junior striker Keyshawn Bryant made the jump with 7:47 to play. The Gamecocks failed to take another shot from the field until the second-year striker Wildens Levequeburied after a missed three-point attempt Jermaine Couisnard with 13 seconds remaining. In that seven-minute, 34-second basketball period, Gamecocks had just six points, all on the free-throw line.
Interim Head Coach Bruce Shingler he felt that his team was losing pace on the offensive side and aggression on the edge of the ring did not give him enough free throw opportunities. Gamecocks hit 10 out of 14 on the free throw line, while LSU, the SEC’s leader in free throw percentage, was 24 out of 32 (15 out of 17 in the second half). Tigers made 10 free throws in the same game period as Gamecocks made six.
“We were a little stagnant and the ball started to stick too much and we were making the first pass,” said Shingler. I thought that in the last six or seven minutes of the game the ball got stuck in the hands of our boys.
“In the last seven minutes of both games against Houston and LSU, we were offensively stagnant. We have to learn how to end tough games with better execution. … On the road, they hit 32 free throws and we hit 14. We were being aggressive, so They hit 32 and we hit 14. At the end of the day, the game was won on the free-throw line for them. ”
While AJ Lawson scored 22 points (18 in the first half) and Keyshawn Bryant set a career record of 26 in his first game since December 5, Couisnard dealt with foul problems early in the first half and had to play with four in the final minutes of the game. He struggled to score in 17 minutes, playing with five points in 1 of 8 shots.
“Jermaine is a primary ball handler and he got into trouble at the beginning took his pace and got him out of the flow,” said Shingler. “At the beginning of the second half he scored three to regain momentum and then a foul just after three. Your pace has always been interrupted. He’s our guy. We believe in him and I know he will improve. “
Lawson and Justin Minaya played all 40 minutes, while Bryant made 35 and Leveque, 31. Shingler admitted that there were tired legs on the court at the end of the game.
“We are not sorry, but we are a reality,” said Shingler. “The reality is that we practice 25%, which is less than an hour, on Tuesday. We practice 50%, which is about an hour, on Wednesday. We managed to train on Thursday and then we tried to save some legs for Friday and Saturday. The struggle that we have fought between our program and health protocols has shown. The guys had cramps and were tired. I’m not here to make excuses, but I think our guys probably got a little tired late. “
Shingler said Saturday night’s performance on the road proved that the drought in playing time did not affect the mentality of this team. Gamecocks came to play, but failed.
“Our guys can deal with adversity and in any situation, they will give 100 percent effort,” said Shingler. “This is our DNA and our culture and our leadership Frank Martin. I expected nothing less than the best of them. We have many things from which we need to build. We have to move on, have Missouri on Tuesday, a quick turnaround. We have to let this go and focus on Missouri. “
Gamecocks (3-3, 1-1) will try to play a second consecutive conference match for the first time this season on Tuesday, a hint on the road at 7pm against Mizzou Tigers (8-2, 2-2 SEC).