The South Carolina men’s basketball team failed to save the home game’s final game of three games on Saturday afternoon. A 81-74 loss to Ole Miss was Carolina’s third consecutive loss at Columbia.
A few days after failing to execute at the end of a battle with Alabama, the Gamecocks did not click offensively against Ole Miss. They missed their first seven shots, an even more disheartening start because their opponent only managed to score 12 points in the first 11 and a half minutes of play.
Ole Miss moved on, ending the game with a 50% field goal percentage. The rebels hit 34 out of 44 on the free-throw line. They made 26 of 34 attempts in the second half, aided by the Gamecocks having some possessions in the final minute and lots of whistles blown to stop the game clock. Ole Miss, senior shipowner, native of Columbia Devontae Shuler, scored 31 points, the best of his career. He hit 8 out of 13 shots and 13 out of 16 on the free throw line. He entered the dispute as the team’s top scorer of the season (15.5 ppg).
“The inability to stop the best player from the other team is a broken record now”, head coach Frank Martin said. “It is not a mysterious offense or deception. It’s just getting ready and having guys disciplined and connected enough to handle a screen and not give in to the physicality of the moment. This has been a struggle for this team all year.
“In my career, the best player on the other team rarely marks his average. This year we cannot stop anyone and he is in the guard position, for the most part. We have to keep working and find a way to play a little stronger, more difficult and disciplined. “
South Carolina had only two players – guard AJ Lawson and center Wildens Leveque – make more than three shots from the ground. Lawson made 6 of 19 with 22 points, his eighth game of 20 points of the season. Leveque made 6 of 7 on the floor, producing 12 of his 13 points. The only other double digit Gamecock was guard Trae Hannibal, who hit 8 out of 8 on the free-throw line with 12 total points. During South Carolina’s stay at home in the last three games, the team hit 39 percent of field shots (74 of 190).
From defensive lapses to lack of momentum offensively, junior striker Keyshawn Bryant was post-game vocal about the way he and his teammates are playing now.
“We haven’t played as a team in the last two games,” said Bryant. “My role is to get everyone to follow, but I also feel like I haven’t done my job. What I mean by not playing as a team is not listening to plays called by the coach and not performing the way we should.
“No one is pointing a finger. It’s a team thing. I feel like everyone is frustrated that we’re not on the same page. This isn’t really a Frank Martin basketball team right now. We haven’t been playing Frank Martin basketball. Everyone should be frustrated by not be on the same page as our coaches. “
Martin says the lack of trust exists, but it is not too late to be reconciled.
“I don’t like to throw players under the bus, but we need to trust each other,” said Martin. “We don’t take responsibility for what Keyshawn said. It will be difficult to correct some of these things (if we don’t). It takes guys who appropriate the moment. It is never too late to change. This is my theory of how I live life. This does not mean that you have to be perfect, but if you refuse to accept your responsibility, the problem will not be solved. “
The Gamecocks came home a week and a half ago, after disturbing then – No. 22 Florida in Gainesville. A defeat against the state of Mississippi, No. 11 of Alabama and Ole Miss resulted in three defeats, pushing them further down the SEC ranking; now with 3-7 in the league and 5-9 overall.
“I felt that the game (from Florida) gave us some confidence to maintain gong, but it didn’t work out that way,” said Bryant. “We went back to being the way we used to play. The three consecutive defeats are just the result of playing individual basketball instead of collective basketball. “
Unlike junior striker Alanzo Frink out for the season due to an undisclosed medical condition, the Gamecocks had played their last five players with their full quota of players. In the first half, against Ole Miss, on Saturday, red shirt of the second guard Jermaine Couisnard hurt his left foot. He did not return to the game after eight minutes, played with three rebounds and three turns. Martin did not have a post-game diagnosis of Couisnard, but said the swelling was “minimal” when he left the locker room for the second half. Redshirt junior forward Justin Minaya left at the end of the game after a collision with a lost ball. He didn’t come back, but Martin didn’t think it was serious.
The Gamecocks’ next game on Tuesday, a 20:30 road game against No. 16 Tennessee. The SEC Network will make the transmission. The volunteers (14-5, 7-5) crashed at LSU on the road on Saturday, 78-65.