South Carolina basketball fell to Liberty in their opening match of the season.
Frank Martin and the South Carolina basketball team opened the 2020-21 season at the Hall of Fame Classic against Liberty on Saturday afternoon, and the Gamecocks looked a little rusty on their first time on the floor.
South Carolina fell to the Flames by a score of 78-62, and failed to gain any momentum on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. South Carolina lost 17 to 16 at the start of the first half, before Liberty burst into a 16 to 2 straight, and the Flames never looked back.
Liberty used sharp shooting performance to maintain that lead, as the Gamecocks never managed to cut the deficit to less than double digits. Flames fired 11 out of 26 beyond the arc, while Gamecocks were only 3 out of 17.
Striker Kyle Rode led the Liberty attack, scoring 18 points, while another four Flames scored double digits. AJ Lawson, Jermaine Couisnard and Keyshawn Bryant scored ten points or more, with Lawson leading, but it was not enough to keep Gamecocks in the game.
The story of the game was shot, as South Carolina hit less than 40% of attempts. Liberty, on the other hand, hit 56% of the ground, which did not please the South Carolina defensive coach.
“Throughout the pre-season I tried to find out if we are much better offensively (than last year) or we are not very good defensively,” said Martin. “In practice, our attack looks very good and we are better offensively than we showed today, especially in the first half. My private questions are now true for me. This means that our defense is still not as good as it should be and is something we need to improve on. “
Gamecocks will try to put the pieces together on Sunday and rescue a victory by facing Tulsa at 13:00. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.