With no friendly matches allowed and the season’s only showing canceled due to late test results, the South Carolina men’s basketball team played their first two opponents of the season over the weekend.
The Hall of Fame Classic produced a double-digit defeat for Liberty and a double-digit victory over Tulsa. The Gamecocks improved from 39 percent shooting against Flames to 48 percent against Golden Hurricanes, with a highlight going 3-to-17 on the three-point line on Saturday to 9-to-23 on Sunday. They conceded 78 points on Saturday and 58 in less than 24 hours later, including more than 10 minutes that Tulsa missed.
With mixed results over a two-day period, both as a team and individually, Gamecocks now have a chance to review their first 80 minutes played against players who did not wear black training shirts and garnet. There is no game until Saturday, a tip on the road at 8pm against No. 17 in Houston, but there is still work to be done Monday through Friday, said the head coach Frank Martin.
“The challenge now is to use film and teach,” said Martin after the victory over Tulsa. “If we were still young and attentive, I wouldn’t be very excited about cinema this week. These guys are older, they’ve been great and we have to show them a movie so we can learn. We grew up and understood how much you have to play to win. Now it’s a matter of showing them what we need to do to improve. “
Black Friday + Cyber Monday: Get 75% off at TheBigSpur.com! | 2-4-7 Analysis of the victory over Tulsa
Not satisfied with his attack or defense on Saturday and disappointed to see 24 losses turn into 21 Tulsa points on Sunday, there is much to do in the pause in film criticism.
“Now we’re going to watch the movie this week and the guys are going to see when other teams play different defenses and offenses to make things a little better,” said Martin.
“This is the difference between coaches and players. Coaches are trying to see the game so they can tell players where the adjustments are. The big, big players who win 40 million dollars is not just because they can throw the basketball. They are like coaches on the court; play and watch at the same time so they can make adjustments to each other on the court ”.
Gamecocks (1-1) have five games left outside the conference until the SEC game begins in Kentucky on December 29. Your final game outside the conference will be hosting Florida A&M on January 2.
South Carolina non-conference agenda
Saturday, December 5: Houston No. 17 – 6pm on ESPN +
Thursday, December 10: Wofford – 7 pm on the SEC Network
Monday, December 14: in George Washington – 7 pm CBS Sports Network
Saturday, December 19: Clemson – TBA
Wednesday, December 23: State of SC – 19h on SEC Network
Saturday, January 2: Florida A&M – 3:30 pm on the SEC Network
* homemade games in bold