At the start of the Saturday afternoon competition between Liberty and South Carolina, it was easy to conclude that the Flames were playing their third game in four days and the Gamecocks were just beginning their season.
With a 17-16 lead in the first game of the Hall of Fame Classic, Flames mounted a 16-2 run, marked by three hot spot kicks, to take a 17 point lead into the locker room. His offensive flow was carried into the second half on the way to a 78-62 victory over a Gamecocks team that was struggling to gain momentum on both sides of the field.
The Flames relied on the Gamecock defense spacing, the use of multiple passes for possession and attempts to knock down three points. Liberty was 11 of 26 in three-point reach. The defense was part of the main coach of his team Frank Martin was still concerned about the start of the season.
“Throughout the pre-season I tried to find out whether we are much better offensively (than last year) or 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. “
At the opposite end of the court, Gamecocks struggled to find any offensive continuity. From hasty kicks to a bad and bad game setup, Martin was not satisfied with the way the ball was moved to obtain successful opportunities to score. Gamecocks hit 39 percent in the full 40 minutes and only 33 percent in the first half.
“The player’s movement was very bad,” said Martin. “It was lethargic. We ran our cuts. We couldn’t filter them. I tried to run a few things that we ran to filter and they would just physically pick up the guy we were trying to filter and he would get our guy out of his cut and our guy wouldn’t play hard enough to use the screen. Sixty percent of our first half shots were made with less than two passes. That’s what they want you to do. That’s what their defense was designed for you to do. … We didn’t give ourselves an offensive chance. “
After an exhibition game canceled for having to play one of the best mid-major programs in the country, Martin knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park to start the season. Under the head coach Ritchie McKay, Liberty has four consecutive seasons of 20 wins and comes from a 30-win season last year.
“They had a few games going on and were at peace about how to play,” said Martin. “We were a little nervous, a little tense and played badly in the attack in the first half, not because we missed the shots, but because of the way we played. We played badly in the first half, which made the game even more difficult because they make you defend for 20 to 25 seconds and have all these kicks. We started the game the way I thought we would start from an emotional point of view and, unfortunately, they walked away from us. “
McKay was in complete agreement about what he saw in the fight. One team had played against the competition, while the other relied on training representatives to prepare for the start of the season.
“We are lucky to be the first game in South Carolina and we have already played two,” said McKay. “When we got a clue that really helped our cause. … Part of it was rust that South Carolina had. We felt it in our first game against Purdue. As a trainer, you are used to scrimmaging and showing off for a little test. When you don’t have it, when we extend the leadership, I think we gave their confidence a little boost and it helped our cause. Coach Martin does an excellent job and is a good team. After shaking off the rust, they will win many games. “
More than anything, Martin was disappointed that his experienced team did not match the effort of another experienced team.
“Off the scoreboard, the only thing that really disappointed me is that they are an older team with a winning culture, but so are we,” said Martin. “They beat us until we lost the balls. We tried to track them and they wouldn’t let us track them. They were the most physical team. This bothers me. … We have to find out if today was an abnormality or a habit that we have to break. “
FINAL BOX – AJ Lawson, Keyshawn Bryant and Jermaine Couisnard score double digits
Just as Liberty benefited from a small turnaround earlier in the week after losing to Purdue to win the State of Mississippi, Gamecocks will have that opportunity on Sunday to face the loser of the Tulsa meeting with TCU at 1 pm on ESPN2.
“I think we will play much better tomorrow,” said Martin. “I don’t care how old you are and how old you are in college. Your first game of the year always makes you nervous. We are in a 20,000-seat building with 20 people in the stands. It’s a different look and a different vibe. They felt it (earlier this week). We still don’t feel it. This seems petty, but it is real. I thought we played better in the second half, when we felt comfortable, but at the beginning we were tight. They needed to relax and play, but we started doing it a little too late. “