COLUMBIA – Georgia.
Good for what ails you.
South Carolina had three consecutive losing games with an 83-59 victory over Georgia on Wednesday, their ninth consecutive victory over the Bulldogs and an injection of relief after the leadership and effort were questioned in their last loss. USC (4-5, 2-3 SEC) started the game with a display of ugly pitches, but a 19-2 sprint in a four-minute stretch gave him a reclining cushion the entire time.
Keyshawn Bryant continued his majestic flights to the basket with 11 points during the race, all after he missed one of the tomahawk congestion attempts for which he became known and ricocheted almost off the scoreboard. He put the finishing touches on a standout All-SEC / NBA Draft roll with 19 points, 10 rebounds, a block, three steals … and half a double technique.
“After I missed that dunk, my main goal was, ‘Don’t make eye contact with Frank,'” said Bryant. “It was all worth it.”
“That didn’t bother me,” said coach Frank Martin. “Guys like you and me don’t understand how hard these dunks are, because we never got off the ground more than 4-5 inches. I’m glad Key wasn’t looking at me, because he would have thought I was mad at him when he was mad at Wildens (Leveque, who buried a brick five seconds after Bryant). “
The Gamecocks defense, after suffering 57 points from Auburn in the last half, kept Georgia (9-6, 2-6) at 59 in Wednesday’s game. The Bulldogs averaged almost 77 points per game at the SEC, but never reached a pace against a USC defense that was much more active and practical than in all of their last three games.
Georgia was kept at low points of the season, percentage of field goals and percentage of 3 points. Bulldogs have turned it over 20 times.
With a list as full as it will be for the rest of the year (all except Alanzo Frink, who will lose the rest for medical reasons), USC had the staff and the opportunity to feel good. For some reason, Gamecocks have always been able to find this against Bulldogs.
They beat Georgia last season and the year before to break strings of two consecutive losses and have always had a game from Georgia to ease the losses in a single game in each of the previous two seasons. The USC has not lost to the Bulldogs since 2016, when three defeats in the same year, all in the hands of former Georgia star JJ Frazier, contributed to the loss of the NCAA Tournament.
USC’s energy was elite, its defense was firm, and its leaders led. Jermaine Couisnard came out of a long drop with 18 points, while AJ Lawson scored 12 and Justin Minaya scored 10.
“Lately I’ve been going to the gym twice a day and working on my mechanics,” said Couisnard. “Really having confidence in myself that every photo I take is going to come in.”
Martin said the team is still looking for confidence and identity, and Tuesday’s training and Wednesday’s game helped bring them to that goal. But they have not yet arrived.
“Fun to watch, not just for the scoreboard, but for the unity and connectivity with which we play defensively. It gave us the same kind of offensive confidence, ”said Martin. “We started to play better as everyone was on the same page and that led to some easy baskets and we finally converted.”
Looking forward
Gamecocks arrive in Vanderbilt at 8:30 pm on Saturday.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.