Strong Second Half Propels Georgia to Win Over South Carolina

(My apologies for the delay on this posting.)

The 2012-13 college basketball season so far has been the craziest season I can ever remember. There have been a significant number of buzzer beaters, countless overtime games and teams that look like world beaters at one moment then lose a conference game to a team much lower in the standings. And if you are the number one ranked team, well you might as well be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, because number one ranked teams have a very short shelf life.

South Carolina has not been immune to the craziness of this season. In a 75-54 win, the Gamecocks had a 32-4 first half run vs. Arkansas, the second 32-4 run I had seen a calendar year (the first was VCU against George Mason in the CAA Tournament Semifinals last March). Then in their next game last Thursday against the buzzsaw known as Florida, the Gamecocks scored a total of 36 points for the entire game in a 75-36 drubbing.

Frank Martin's team was looking to rebound against a Georgia team that also hasn't been immune to the wackiness that is the 2012-13 basketball season. The first time I saw the Bulldogs this season was on TV when they were soundly defeated at home by Youngstown State in a non conference game. The Bulldogs started the season 2-7 and later lost their first three SEC conference games. But they had won three out of their last four, including a win over Auburn, a team that beat South Carolina recently.

it was a beautiful early Saturday afternoon and as a result, over 11,000 fans came out to Colonial Life Arena to see if the Gamecocks could get a win over the Bulldogs. If you are not familiar with the arena, when you walk into the main entrance, there is a pavilion, where you can walk downstairs to get tickets or go up stairs to your seats. At the top of the stairs last Saturday were members of the dance team giving out free Gamecocks' towels. Give a kid a towel and you can be guaranteed that he or she will whip it around sometime during the game.

When I watched that game early in the season, one player stood out for the Bulldogs. Kentavius Caldwell-Pope is clearly Georgia's best player. He also happens to be their only player averaging double digits in scoring on the season. Pope wasted no time showing the South Carolina fans how good he is as he scored the Bulldogs' first five points on a three pointer and then a jumper.

While the sophomore Pope is clearly Georgia's best player, South Carolina's best player is also an underclassman. Freshman Michael Carrera has quickly become a fan favorite due to his relentless play, ability to score inside and his charisma. Carrera scored the Gamecocks' first four points, including a jumper after an offensive rebound.

The Gamecocks went up 14-13 after a Lakeem Jackson jumper. But Pope responded with one of his own to put the Bulldogs back in front. Later he would bury a three pointer to give Georgia a 20-16 lead.

But Carrera would respond with his own mini spurt. His jumper cut the lead to two. Then he hit a three pointer to put South Carolina up one. Then finally he assisted on Bruce Ellington's jumper to put the Gamecocks up three, 23-20.

However Pope would respond to this personal challenge by scoring four of the next five Georgia points to put the Bulldogs up 25-23. Of course Carrera would respond with two free throws to tie the game. And of course, Pope responded with a layup later on to put Georgia back up four 29-25.

However the Gamecocks would end the half on a 5-0 mini spurt. Carrera hit two free throws, then Mindaugas Kacinas added a three point play. South Carolina was up 30-29 at the half. Pope had sixteen of Georgia's points while Carrera had fifteen of South Carolina's points.

At halftime, while the Gamecocks tried to figure out how to stop Pope and the Bulldogs tried to figure out Carrera, there was a ceremony honoring a lot of South Carolina Men's Basketball Alumni who came out for the game. They received a very warm ovation from the crowd.

At the start of the second half, Carrera picked up right where he left off, drawing a foul and hitting one of two free throws to put South Carolina up 31-29. Little did anyone know that the free throw would be the last point he scored in the game.

Meanwhile, Kenny Gaines took it upon himself to give the Bulldogs additional scoring. He scored six of the next eight Georgia points to put the Bulldogs up 37-33. Bruce Ellington would hit a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 37-36.

But Georgia responded with a 9-1 run over the next three and a half minutes. Gaines capped the run with a three pointer to put Georgia up 46-38 with 11:48 left in the game. The TV timeout with 11:30 left couldn't have come at a better time for South Carolina.

Off the timeout, the other fan favorite, Ellington went to work. First, he a three pointer which resulted in a large BRUUUUUCE cheer from the fans. Then Ellington hit an old fashioned three pointer to cut the lead to two, 46-44 with a little under eleven minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately, the Gamecocks would not get any closer. The Bulldogs scored the next five points to go up 51-44. South Carolina would cut the lead to four twice, the second time on a Brian Richardson jumper to make the score 53-49.

But Georgia would bury two three pointers in a row, one by Sherrard Brantley, the other by Caldwell-Pope, his first and only points of the second half. The Bulldogs were up 59-49 with four and a half minutes left. The Gamecocks would get as close again as 61-56 on a Richardson three pointer. But the Bulldogs scored the last six points to win 67-56.

Caldwell-Pope led all scorers with nineteen points, but only three came in the second half.  Gaines and Charles Mann each had eleven points for the Bulldogs.Georgia shot fifty eight percent for the game.

Carrera led the Gamecocks with sixteen points, but only one point came in the second half.  Ellington added fourteen points and Richardson chipped in with twelve points. Brenton Williams, who had been the Gamecocks leading scorer entering the game, only had two points.   South Carolina had ten more field goal attempts than Georgia. But the Gamecocks made six less field goals than the Bulldogs and only shot thirty five percent from the field.

After the first half even duel between Carrera and Pope, the Bulldogs had a better team effort in the second half than the Gamecocks.  Coach Martin needs to find a way to get more output from players other than Carrera.  Otherwise the Gamecocks will be hard pressed to get wins in the competitive SEC.

Huge First Half Run Propels South Carolina to Big Win over Arkansas

Entering Saturday's contest vs. the Razorbacks, the Gamecocks were looking to get their first SEC home win of the season. More importantly, South Carolina was trying to stem the tide of close games they have played in conference all season. They had played five games, all decided by single digit margins. One game was decided in overtime, their sole conference win at the time over LSU. The Gamecocks had late second half leads in three games, only to lose all of those games - Mississippi State, Auburn and Missouri. And in the fifth game, South Carolina trailed Vanderbilt by two, 51-49 with a little more than a minute left before losing by seven points.
Their opponent, Arkansas, entered the game faring somewhat better, having won three of their first five conference games, all at home. In their three home SEC wins over Auburn, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the Razorbacks average margin of victory was nineteen points. However in their two road losses to Ole Miss and Texas A&M, Arkansas lost each game by double digits. You figured maybe something had to give yesterday.

After a wonderful rendition of the national anthem by a local fourth grade school chorus, at the start of the game, it looked like the Gamecocks were the ones giving. The Razorbacks rolled out to a 15-3 lead in the first four and a half minutes, due in large part to junior guard Rickey Scott, who scored eight points in the run, three more than his season average. After Scott buried a three to put Arkansas up by twelve, South Carolina coach Frank Martin had no choice but to call timeout with 15:39 left in the first half.

Whatever he said in that timeout must have resonated with his team. Over the span of the next
five and half minutes, the Gamecocks went on a 13-0 run. South Carolina forced three turnovers in that span and when Michael Carrera hit a jumper to give the Gamecocks a 17-16 lead with ten minutes left, the nearly eleven thousand fans in attendance at Colonial Life Arena roared in approval.

When Arkansas regained the lead, 18-17 on a layup by the Razorbacks leading scorer on the season, B.J. Young, it seemed like we had another close SEC contest. It made sense, considering all the close games that the Gamecocks had played on the season.

But South Carolina was far from done. Over the next six plus minutes, the Gamecocks outscored the Razorbacks 19-2. They accomplished this with the three pointer, hitting four in that span, including two by Brian Richardson and one by Lakeem Jackson, his second on the season in three attempts. Jackson's jumper ended an overall 32-4 run by South Carolina and gave them a 35-19 lead. It was the second time in a calendar year that I had seen a 32-4 run.

Two three pointers by Bruce Ellington and Eric Smith, whose shot was basically a turnaround shot clock beating prayer, capped a 40-11 onslaught. South Carolina led at the half 43-26. Richardson already had thirteen points in the first half.

The question starting the second half was whether South Carolina could keep down one of the top twenty scoring teams in the country in Arkansas. Within a few minutes of the second half, the answer was yes. The Razorbacks went scoreless over a three minute period and the Gamecocks extended their lead slightly to twenty, 52-32.

Arkansas did have one spurt on them, mainly due to Marshawn Powell, who scored six straight points for the Razorbacks to cut the Gamecocks' lead to twelve, 55-43 with about ten and half minutes left in the game.

But from there, South Carolina responded with a 16-3 spurt over the next five and half minutes. Laimonas Chatekevicius layup capped the run and the Gamecocks were up 71-46 with five minutes left in the game. South Carolina would end up winning 75-54.

The Gamecocks held the Razorbacks to twenty four points under their season scoring average. Arkansas was held to thirty four percent from the field, including a horrid two of sixteen from beyond the arc. Young, who had been averaging over sixteen points per game, was held to seven points on three of twelve shooting. Powell, Arkansas' second leading scorer, led the Razorbacks with twenty two points and thirteen rebounds.

South Carolina shot a blistering fifty seven percent from the field including seven of twelve from beyond the arc. Richardson had a career high twenty points. Ellington added fourteen points and Jackson added eleven points and three assists. Ellington, Jackson and Richardson combined to shoot eighteen of twenty five from the field (seventy two percent).

There was a moment that stood out to me about midway through the second half with the game no longer in doubt.  Carrera was trapped at the wing trying to get the ball to Ellington. After several seconds, Carrera lost the ball. Martin immediately substituted for Carrera. While Carrera was leaving the court, his replacement left either a towel or a warmup shirt by the scorers' table. Martin grabbed the item and fired it down towards the bench. Right afterwards, Martin gave Carrera a talking to about the play, no doubt telling him what he should have done.


What it told me was that in the midst of the Gamecocks' most complete game of the season from both an offensive and defensive standpoint, Martin didn't want his players letting up at any moment. He knows that games like this will be rare in the competitive SEC. His players must be focused and make the right plays at the right time. With only four teams in conference over .500 at the moment, there is an opportunity for the Gamecocks to move up in the standings.

The Little Things Make the Difference (Recap of Auburn v. South Carolina)

Coming off a two point loss at Mississippi State in a game where they had a six point lead with five and a half minutes left, South Carolina looked to rebound  in their home conference opener.  The Gamecocks were hosting the Tigers of Auburn.  Auburn had won their first conference game of the season at home defeating LSU 68-63.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Columbia yesterday where it reached a record temperature of 81 degrees on January 12.  As I got out of my car in a parking lot across from the Colonial Life Arena, I could see the fans were taking full advantage of the weather.  Many of them were dressed in t-shirts and shorts. Having lived in New York for forty six years and been subjected to Northeast winters, an 80 degree day is a welcome change.

As I made my way to the arena, there were a lot of scalpers asking people if they needed tickets.  Without fail, everyone they asked, including me, said "No thanks".  Finally one of the scalpers blurted out to his friend "It's just football and baseball where they need tickets!" Given it's Frank Martin's first year coaching the team, the scalpers need a little patience.

I was at the arena an hour before game time, but there is a reward for being the early bird - giveaways.  Members of the Carolina Girls dance team were giving fans a free hat.  It was probably for the first whatever number of fans that came in to see the game.  The moral of the story is the early bird gets the worm, the parking space and the giveaways.

The fans by me seemed to be in good spirits. It was probably the weather, but I think it also had to do with it being the first conference home game.  With the exception of Clemson, the non conference home schedule was devoid of any big name teams.  So the 9,119 in attendance were looking forward to facing a familiar SEC foe.

And the South Carolina pep band was firing on all cylinders.  They first started with a song by Chicago, the ultimate brass rock band.   Then they played "September" by Earth Wind and Fire, another song perfect for a pep band.  Later on they played my favorite song of theirs, Blondie's "Call Me".  Years ago, when Deborah Harry co-wrote that song, I wonder if she realized that it would end up being played by pep bands.  Probably not.

At the start of the game, it was evident that this was going to be another nip and tuck SEC affair.  Bruce Ellington, the hero of the Outback Bowl, appropriately started the scoring with a jumper.  This resulted in a loud "BRUUUUCE" cheer from the fans.  But Shaquille Johnson buried a three pointer to put Auburn up 3-2.

And that was the theme for the first twenty minutes of the game.  South Carolina would take a lead. Auburn would take it right back. All that was missing was the pep band playing "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better".

A three pointer by Damien Leonard followed by an Ellington layup gave the Gamecocks a 20-14 lead.  But Auburn scored seven straight points capped by a Noel Johnson three to put Auburn back up one, 21-20.  Leonard responded with another three pointer to put South Carolina back out in front by two.  Johnson countered with another three pointer and Auburn was back up one, 24-23.

An 8-2 spurt by the Gamecocks capped by another Leonard three put South Carolina up five, 31-26 with five minutes left. With LaShay Page's Gamecock career over due to an academic eligibility  issue (Page was a graduate student at South Carolina, having transferred from Southern Miss for his fifth senior season), Leonard and Brian Richardson have been given larger roles for the Gamecocks.  The sophomore Leonard responded on Saturday with his biggest game of the season scoring seventeen points.

Auburn would again rally, outscoring South Carolina 11-4.  Frankie Sullivan's layup put the Tigers up 37-35.  But the Gamecocks would score four straight points as Bruce Ellington's jumper put South Carolina up 39-37. A Sullivan free throw cut the lead to one, 39-38.  The Gamecocks had a chance to go up more at the half but Brenton Williams left his layup just short on the rim.  It would be one of those missed opportunities that would come back to haunt South Carolina at the end.

At the start of the second half, Sullivan continued to be the hot hand for the Tigers.  He hit two consecutive three pointers to give Auburn their largest lead of the game, 46-42 with sixteen minutes left.  The scoring pace would slow down considerably with South Carolina outscoring Auburn 7-2 over the next nearly three and a half minutes.  A Lakeem Jackson jumper would put South Carolina back up one, 49-48.

The teams would trade baskets and free throws for the next three minutes. Eric Smith hit one of his two free throws to put South Carolina back up one, 56-55.  An Ellington jumper and another Leonard three would put the Gamecocks up four, 61-57.

Again, Auburn responded. Without two of their top leading scorers, Chris Denson and Jordan Price, due to injuries, other players have stepped up for the Tigers. After Rob Chubb hit a layup, Brian Greene Jr buried a three pointer to give the Tigers back the lead 62-61.

Once again, the teams traded leads for the next two minutes. Smith's second three pointer in a row gave South Carolina the lead 69-67 with four and a half minutes left.  But two free throws by Chubb and a jumper by Greene Jr. put Auburn back in front 71-69.

Auburn's Allen Payne basically intentionally fouled Jackson off a timeout.  Jackson, who's  horrifically bad free throw shooting is well known, had actually hit two earlier free throws much to the delight of the crowd.  But with a chance to tie, Jackson reverted to his 28 percent free throw shooting self, missing both.  Jackson would make up for it later by finding Ellington for an open jumper to tie the game at 71 with three minutes left.

But the difference in the game came down to the free throw line.  The South Carolina fans were quite upset by the officiating for the entire game.  Strangely though, it was Auburn's bench that was given the only warning of the game. Still, the Tigers had twelve more free throw attempts than the Gamecocks and hit seven more free throws.  Two free throws by Sullivan would put Auburn up two 73-71 with 2:41 left in the game.

The Gamecocks had several chances to tie or take the lead.  But Ellington and Carrera missed jumpers. Then after an Auburn turnover, Smith missed an open three with the shot clock winding down. Sullivan missed a jumper but Chubb got the offensive rebound and was fouled by Carrera, who fouled out of the game.

Chubb only hit one of two free throws to put Auburn up 74-71 with thirty five seconds left.  Richardson had a good look at a three pointer but missed.  However South Carolina got the rebound and called timeout with nine seconds left.  Ellington rushed a three with seven seconds left on the clock and missed.  Auburn dribbled out the clock and had a hard earned 74-71 win.

Ellington, who was coming off a rough nine turnover game against Mississippi State, bounced back nicely with eighteen points, five assists, two steals and only had two turnovers. Leonard had nine rebounds to go with his seventeen points, six of the rebounds came on the offensive end.  Smith added ten points on three three point field goals and Jackson added ten points and three assists. Carrera only played twenty four minutes and had six points, seven rebounds, five on the offensive end and five assists.

Sullivan led Auburn with seventeen points while Chubb had sixteen points and ten rebounds.  Greene Jr came off the bench with fourteen points as he hit all six of his field goal attempts.  The Tigers shot fifty eight percent from the field.  

The statistics were very close.  Both teams hit eight three pointers and South Carolina made two more field goals, twenty six, to Auburn's twenty four field goals.  But again the difference was at the line. Auburn was 18 of 28, while South Carolina was 11 of 16.

Martin had to be pleased with his teams improved ball handling on Saturday. Wednesday night, they had only ten assists and twenty turnovers.  On Saturday, they had twenty assists and fifteen turnovers. Still, it wasn't enough to turn back Auburn.

In a competitive SEC, the little things mount up.  The missed free throws by Jackson, an open layup that falls short right before the half, a rushed three point attempt with time left on the clock, Carrera in foul trouble and playing only twenty four minutes and points off turnovers (Auburn 8, South Carolina 2). In the end, they cost the Gamecocks the game.

Still, in a seemingly down year for the SEC, the Gamecocks have time to right the ship.  They just need to take care of the little things - more free throw opportunities, Carrera staying out of foul trouble and capitalizing on opportunities down the stretch.

I understand that fully.  In my haste to tweet the final score and leave to beat the traffic, I left that free hat at my seat.

You have to take care of the little things.

It's Not How You Win, It's as Long as You Win (Recap of SC State v.South Carolina)

Entering Saturday's game vs. the Bulldogs, the Gamecocks had won nine of their first twelve games. With a win over their fellow Palmetto State school, South Carolina would match their entire win total from last season. But the Gamecocks would have to do that without their second, third and fourth leading scorers. LaShay Page still has a pending academic issue, while Michael Carrera is nursing a hip injury. Finally, Bruce Ellington was recovering from his heroic Outback Bowl game where he caught the game winning touchdown.

So it would be interesting to see how Frank Martin's team would play from the start. The fans in attendance at Colonial Life Arena found out quickly as the Bulldogs went out to a 10-2 lead as the Gamecocks had no answer for SC State forward Matthew Hezekiah. Hezekiah scored six of the Bulldogs first ten points.

The Bulldogs maintained their advantage, as they lead 18-11 with a little more than twelve and a half minutes left in the first half. Slowly but surely, the Gamecocks chipped away at the SC State lead. South Carolina would go on a 9-1 "crawl" over five and half minutes. Mindaugas Kacinas' tip in off a Lakeem Jackson miss put the Gamecocks up 20-19 with 7:20 left in the half.

Hezekiah briefly put the Bulldogs back up by one. But a Damien Leonard three pointer put the Gamecocks up for good. South Carolina would enter the half up eight, 37-29 after another Kacinas tip shot.

After the halftime event which featured a husband and wife clown team performing various stunts. the Gamecocks extended their lead to twelve points. Brian Richardson, making the start yesterday for South Carolina hit a jumper to put his team up 45-33. But the Bulldogs refused to go away. Once again, it was Hezekiah who scored four straight points to cut the Gamecocks lead to eight, 45-37 with just under sixteen minutes left.

But other than Hezekiah, the Bulldogs didn't have really any other scoring options. The closest SC State would get to South Carolina was six points, 61-55 on a Patrick Myers jumper with a little more than seven minutes left.

The Gamecocks would pull away, scoring the next six straight points. A Brenton Williams three point play, followed by a Richardson three pointer put South Carolina up twelve, 67-55, with 6:41 left. The lead would grow as much as fourteen as the Gamecocks would end up winning 80-69.

Hezekiah was dominant, shooting 12 of 18 from the field for twenty four points. He also added fourteen rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end. The only other player in double figures for the Bulldogs was Louis Adams, who scored eight of his twelve points from the free throw line.

Despite not having three of their top four scorers, South Carolina managed to still have four players in double figures scoring. Jackson led the Gamecocks with sixteen points and eight rebounds. Richardson scored fifteen points, Williams chipped in with fourteen points and Leonard added ten points. Kacinas nearly had a double double with nine points and ten rebounds. Eric Smith added seven assists for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks got their tenth win, matching the season total for last season. Now comes the teeth of the schedule, eighteen conference games. South Carolina needs to be at full strength come SEC play time. That starts Wednesday at Mississippi State.

Gamecocks Twin Bill (Recap of Appalachian St v. USC men's game &Stanford v. USC women's game)

With all that's happened the past four months, I have been more clueless than I normally am (ask my wife). I knew that the South Carolina men's basketball team had a 5:00 PM game yesterday. I was curious about the start time and I figured since they had the Saturday evening game at the Barclays Center vs. Manhattan, they decided on an early time for the game.

Of course, I had no idea until Ian McCormick, the ubiquitous writer for Mid Majority and my seat mate for last night's twin bill, told me that the #19 ranked USC women's team was hosting #1 Stanford in the second game of the doubleheader at 7:30 PM. Doubleheader? It doesn't say that on the ticket (and it doesn't). Well, I wasn't going to pass up watching the second game as well.

In the first game, the men's team faced a Mountaineers team that so far this season had won just one game vs. a Division I team (UMKC). However, with the exception of the Jacksonville game, the Gamecocks have struggled to a 4-2 home record going into last night's game. And last night turned out to be no exception.

Before the game started, Frank Martin came onto the court with a microphone talking about the tragedy in Newtown and imploring our country's leaders to find a solution so that this never occurs again.  He then led the crowd in a moment of silence.  Later on, before the women's game, Dawn Staley also did the same thing.

Early on, it looked like South Carolina was going to blow Appalachian State out of the arena. R.J. Slawson, seldom a scoring threat, scored five of the first seven Gamecocks' points. Then Eric Smith scored four straight points. South Carolina was out to an early 11-2 lead.

But the Gamecocks' couldn't extend the lead. The Mountaineers continued to hang around keeping the score within single digits. After a Mindaugas Kacinas basket finally put the Gamecocks up by double digits, 29-18 with six and a half minutes left, Appalachian State called a thirty second timeout.

Whatever was said during those thirty seconds by head coach Jason Capel apparently resonated with the Mountaineers' players. Appalachian State went on a 17-5 run over the next six minutes. Tevin Baskin and Jay Canty, a transfer from Xavier who scored 29 points vs. Missouri, scored thirteen of the seventeen Mountaineers' points. A Canty jumper put Appalachian State in the lead for the first time in the game 35-34. But Bruce Ellington buried a three pointer and South Carolina entered the locker room at the half up 37-35.

South Carolina shot fifty percent from the floor in the first half, but so did Appalachian State from two point field goal range. The only thing that kept the Mountaineers from leading at halftime was that they were shooting 0 of 6 from three point range as opposed to the Gamecocks 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, Appalachian State regained the lead as Mike Neal scored five straight points, including the Mountaineers' first three pointer of the game.  The Mountaineers were up 40-37 and the partisan Gamecocks' crowd was getting restless.

But behind crowd favorite Bruce Ellington, South Carolina responded with a 15-5 spurt over the next five minutes to jump back out in front 52-45.  Ellington had five points in that spurt.  This would be Ellington's last game until after the Outback Bowl on January 1st.

Appalachian State once again responded with a 9-2 spurt as Neal, Jamaal Trice and Tab Hamilton each scored three points to tie the game at 54 with a little less than seven and a half minutes left.  Again, the crowd grew restless with South Carolina's play.  Once again, the fans would be seeing another close home game.

Then Lakeem Jackson and LaShay Page took it upon themselves to put South Carolina ahead to stay.  Jackson and Page combined to score the next eleven Gamecocks' points.  After Mindaugas Kacinas capped the 13-4 spurt with a jumper, South Carolina was ahead 67-58 with two and a half minutes left in the game.

However, Appalachian State was not going down without a fight.  The Mountaineers started whittling away the Gamecocks' lead.  After Jackson was called for an inbounds violation, Canty tipped in a Neal miss and Appalachian State was down two, 71-69 with twenty two seconds left in the game.

The Mountaineers fouled Smith.  With a chance to go up two possessions, Smith only hit one of two free throws.  Appalachian State had a chance to tie but Nathan Healy's three pointer missed and Page sealed the game with two free throws.  South Carolina held on for a 74-69 win.

Jackson led the Gamecocks with sixteen points, Kacinas added twelve points and three blocks and Brenton Williams had a "quiet' eleven points.  Smith had a very solid game with nine assists and only two turnovers. Canty, Neal and Baskin each had sixteen points for the Mountaineers.

The crowd started filling up at the end of the men's game and during intermission.  It was clear that the women's game was the big game of the night.  The #1 ranked Cardinal playing on the home court of the #19 ranked Gamecocks.

Dawn Staley, an Olympian and considered one of the fifteen greatest women's basketball players of all time, took over as head coach of the South Carolina women's team in 2008. Previously, she had been the head coach of Temple, where she led the Owls to six NCAA Tournament appearances in eight years.  The Gamecocks improved in each of their first four seasons under Staley, including last season's 25-10 record which included a NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Staley's Gamecocks came into the game undefeated at 10-0. They are an excellent defensive team; first in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing only forty five points per game, first in field goal percentage defense at 31.8 percent and first in rebounding margin at +16.8 per game.

Meanwhile the Cardinal came in as the top scoring team in the PAC 12 at seventy eight points per game, shooting 51.8 percent from the field, also tops in the PAC 12. Stanford also can play defense, first in the PAC 12 at 31.6 percent field goal percentage defense and second in the PAC 12 in rebounding margin at +14.6 rebounds per game.

By the time the game started, the crowd at Colonial Life Arena had filled in.  Next to the men's game vs. Clemson, it was the largest crowd I had seen at Colonial life this season.  And the 8,118 fans in attendance were fully invested in the game from start till finish.

It was clear early on that this was going to be a physical, defensive game and the pace clearly favored the Gamecocks.  Stanford' height advantage affected the Gamecocks' offense as they struggled to get shots off against the Cardinal.  Stanford would have eleven blocks on the game. But on defense, the quicker Gamecocks swarmed all over the Cardinal players, especially around the paint, forcing numerous Stanford turnovers.

At the under twelve minute media timeout, the score was only 8-5 Stanford.   South Carolina didn't score their third basket until nine minutes left in the first half.  The Cardinal then went scoreless for five minutes which allowed the Gamecocks to briefly take a one point lead, 15-14 on a jumper by Tiffany Mitchell.

The Cardinal responded with an 8-2 spurt and held the Gamecocks to one basket over the next five minutes.  Chiney Ogwumike scored six straight points in that spurt.   Stanford would enter halftime leading 25-19. Considering South Carolina missed on a lot of good first half scoring opportunities and were only down six to the #1 ranked team in the country, the Gamecocks were in good shape.

During halftime, I learned something new.  Part of the halftime festivities during women's home games is Cocky bringing a large group of kids onto the court and leading them in the Chicken Dance. Members of the band joined and even some adults.  It was pretty humorous.

The second half saw South Carolina hold Stanford to one of six shooting in the first four plus minutes. This resulted in the Gamecocks cutting the lead to one point, 26-25 with fifteen and a half minutes left.
But Ogwumike, Amber Orrange and Toni Kokenis would score the Cardinal's next fourteen points and Stanford would continue to lead 40-39 with about five minutes left.

However, off a timeout,  Ieasia Walker would hit a three pointer to put South Carolina in the lead for the first time since four minutes left in the first half.  The Colonial Life Arena erupted and Stanford was now officially on the ropes as the Gamecocks led 42-40 with four and a half minutes left in the game.

After Orrange tied the game at forty two, Sancheon White gave South Carolina the lead back with a jumper.  But a three point play by Ogwumike put Stanford back up 45-44 with two minutes left.  The teams were going back and forth with the leads.  Ian and I were witnessing the best game we had seen all year so far.  It was certainly the most electric a Colonial Life Arena crowd had been for a basketball game all season.

Alegsia Welch had put South Carolina on her back in the second half, scoring twelve points in the second half, nearly half of the Gamecocks' second half points at the time.  This despite seemingly two Cardinal players on her in the paint.  Welch again tried to score with about 1:15 left in the game when she was fouled. With a chance to take the lead, Walsh was only able to hit one of two free throws. The game was tied at 45.

Mikala Ruef then hit a tough layup to put Stanford up two again, 47-45 with fifty four seconds left.  Walker was fouled on a layup attempt to the basket.  With a chance to tie, Walker missed the first free throw and then hit the second.  Stanford was now up one 47-46 with only twenty six seconds left.  If South Carolina couldn't steal the ball, then they would have to foul.

On the inbounds pass, Kokenis got the ball but appeared to run with the ball before she started dribbling.  But much to the chagrin and loud displeasure of the fans, no traveling call was made.  Kokenis was subsequently fouled and she hit both free throws.  Stanford was now up 49-46 with twenty three seconds left.

With a chance to tie, South Carolina turned the ball over and again was forced to foul.  Again Kokenis made two free throws and Stanford was up five, 51-46 with seven seconds left.  Much to the Gamecocks' credit, they didn't give up and Walker buried a three with 1.5 seconds left.   South Carolina was down two, 51-49 and praying for a Reggie Miller type steal and jumper.

It never came. Kokenis got the inbounds pass and was fouled.  She sank two more free throws, giving her a perfect 7 of 7 from the line.  Stanford earned a hard fought 53-49 win.

For Stanford, Ogwumike led all scorers with twenty one points, added fifteen rebounds and had four blocks. Kokenis added fifteen points, while Orrange had eleven points. Joslyn Tinkle added seven blocks for the Cardinal.

Welch led South Carolina with seventeen points, while Walker added fifteen points.  The Gamecocks had ten steals.  They forced eighteen turnovers on the Cardinal.  Stanford, which had led the PAC-12 in assists to turnover ratio at 1.33, had only four assists to go with those eighteen turnovers.  The Gamecocks only had seven turnovers.

Though the fans left disappointed, they gave the Gamecocks a good ovation after the game was finished. Dawn Staley's team nearly defeated the best team in the nation. More importantly, it showed that if given the proper amount of time to develop a winning program, the fans will come out and support the team.

I am sure Frank Martin was taking in the game and coming to the same conclusion.  The fans and administration just need to give him the same amount of time. Given his track record, the results mostly likely will be the same.

Gamecocks Use a Football Mentality to Defeat Dolphins (Recap of USC v. Jacksonville)

Sunday, South Carolina lost at home to Clemson.  It was their second straight loss after winning five of their six first games.   The Gamecocks needed a different approach to defeating the Dolphins of Jacksonville on Friday night.   And that approach would have made Steve Spurrier proud.

As you may know if you are one of my marines, aka the few, the proud, the readers of my site, I work for the University of South Carolina in an IT capacity at the School of Law.  It’s been a great nearly four months so far working there.

One of the things I immediately learned when I got to Columbia is that parking is by seniority.  And since I have no seniority, I park in what’s known as the Z lot.   Let’s put it this way, I get good exercise walking to my office every morning.

But one of the perks of parking in the Z lot is that it is right near the Colonial Life Arena.  So on weeknights, I can leave my car in the lot, not pay the $5 for game parking and walk to the arena.  However, since I had a good ninety minutes to kill on Friday night, I went to what has become my new pre game hangout, the Thirsty Fellow, located across from the arena.

As I sat at my table with my pint of Newcastle and waiting for my meal, I was reading the Friday edition of the Daily Gamecock, the local student school newspaper.  On the back of the paper in the Sports section were two good stories about the basketball team both written by Paulina Berkovich, Assistant Sports Editor at the Daily Gamecock.

Her second story concerned how Coach Martin was looking for more offensive production to become as he put it “bowl-eligible” (winning their sixth game on the season).  In Berkovich’s article, Martin used a football analogy to describe his team’s communication problems.  “Right now, offensively, I’ll call for our tailback to run in the hole between the right guard and the right tackle.  Our offensive line is blocking as if we’re going to run in the hole between the left guard and the right.”  Martin then went onto explain in Berkovich’s article that bad communication has lead to bad execution.

Well, if Martin decided in practice to let Bruce Ellington instruct the team on a few football drills, it must have resonated with his team. The Gamecocks looked like Steve Spurrier’s run and shoot offense from the get go. They were aggressive and moved the ball around much better than they had done in previous games, especially against Clemson.

Leading the way was Michael Carrera, whose nice outlet pass to a Lakeem Jackson for a layup and one would make the score 5-2.  Carrera was all over the court in the first half, blocking shots, taking charges, rebounding, scoring baskets and assisting on others.  Carrera even got to be part of the maintenance crew during the game.  Late in the first half, he was involved in a scrum for a loose ball with Jacksonville’s Javon Dawson.  Jump ball was called.  Dawson came out of the pile with the ball.  Meanwhile,  Carrera grabbed a towel and cleaned the now slippery court.  He got a hand from the 6,980 in attendance for his cleanliness.

South Carolina jumped out quickly to an 11-2 lead on a three pointer by Brian Richardson and had Jacksonville reeling.  Ninety seconds into the game, the Dolphins had already four fouls as they couldn’t handle the Gamecocks’ intensity on both ends of the court.  In the first eleven minutes, South Carolina had a double digit lead several times.  But the Dolphins though hung around, cutting the deficit back into the single digits.  With just about nine minutes left in the first half, Jacksonville was only trailing 29-21.

Enter the subject of Berkovich’s main article in the Daily Gamecock Friday sports section, Brenton Williams.  In her article, Berkovich wrote about how Williams, after the loss to Clemson, asked Coach Martin for game tapes of Martin’s former Kansas State guards.  Williams wanted to see how the Wildcats’ guards played so he could play that way.  He impressed Martin who said “I thought that was a pretty powerful statement.”

Later in that article on Williams, Martin noted that “one of Williams’ biggest strengths is that he cares and he wants to improve.”   Williams is the Gamecocks leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game and leads the team in three point and free throw percentages.  He has done all this coming off the bench, providing the team a much needed spark early in the season.

Having seen Williams play several times this season, I can tell you that I am impressed with his mental and physical resiliency.  In their first home game of the season, Williams was benched by Martin early on against Wisconsin Milwaukee.  He didn’t come back into the game until late in the second half but he kept his head in the game.  When he did enter the game, he rallied his team to overtime and in extra regulation was a free throw shooting machine in the win over the Panthers.

Williams showed his physical resiliency by coming back and playing the next game after the scary incident at St John’s where a Red Storm player landed on him, resulting in a neck injury and an overnight stay in the hospital.

Williams again gave the Gamecocks a spark when they needed it.  He buried two straight three pointers which extended South Carolina’s lead back to double digits as they led now 35-21.  Jacksonville would briefly get the lead down to twelve points.  But that’s as close as the Dolphins would get the rest of the way.

The Gamecocks would outscore the Dolphins 22-7 over the last nine minutes to take a 57-30 lead at the half.   Carrera and Brian Richardson were already in double figures in scoring at the half.  Richardson would end up having a perfect night from beyond the arc, hitting all four of his three point attempts.

Earlier in the half during a media timeout, I was looking up into the rafters at all the banners.  I noticed a couple of Metro Conference championship banners.   Back in its heyday from the seventies to the early nineties, the Metro Conference was one of the premier basketball conferences with Louisville, Memphis, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech among its several schools. South Carolina was in the Metro from 1983-1991 before it left for the SEC.   The Metro merged with the Great Midwest to form Conference USA in 1995.   Just goes to show that conference realignment is not a recent fad and has been around for a long time.

In the second half, the game, to be honest, got ugly.   South Carolina, who looked so good on offense the first twenty minutes of the game, struggled to score.  In the first nine minutes, the Gamecocks only scored eleven points and didn’t score a basket for nearly six minutes.   Unfortunately for Jacksonville, the Dolphins only scored twelve points in the first nine minutes shooting four of fourteen during that time.  With eleven minutes left in the game, the Gamecocks were up 68-42.

Tempers started flaring during this time of ugly basketball.  A melee ensued at the South Carolina basket after a hard flagrant foul by Jacksonville’s Brian Powell with about fifteen and a half minutes left in the game.  Both teams were assessed double technical fouls.    It was also the start of unusual free throw drought for Ellington, who was a seventy seven percent free throw shooter last season, who missed four consecutive free throws.  

South Carolina would still be up by twenty six points, 89-63 after Williams hit his fourth three pointer of the game with two minutes left.  Martin would empty his bench from there putting in his reserves.  Jacksonville would make a late run due in part to some sloppy play by Martin’s bench and make the final score 91-72.

The Gamecocks had four players score in double figures led by Carrera’s nineteen points .  He just missed a double double with nine rebounds and had two blocks.  Richardson had a season high sixteen points.  Ellington had twelve points as did Williams, who had all his come from three pointers, as he shot four of five from beyond the arc.  Laimonas Chatkevicius added nine points while Eric Smith had seven assists and only one turnover.  The Gamecocks shot fifty five percent from the field and were ten of sixteen from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Gamecocks became “bowl eligible” at 6-3.  Their reward is to play in the Barclays Bowl in Brooklyn on December 22 to take on Manhattan (OK, they are just playing at the Barclays Center on December 22. It's not a bowl game, though it is part of a tripleheader).  Before that, they have a home game with Appalachian State on December 19 with an unusual start time of 5:00 PM.

Guess I am leaving work a few minutes early to catch the start of the 5:00 PM game at the Colonial Life Arena.  Good thing I can walk there.

Guest Blogging Again on Daly Dose of Hoops

Once again, my friend, Jaden Daly has asked me to write a scouting report for his great site.  This time it's a scouting report of South Carolina, St John's next opponent Thursday night.  Enjoy!

Tiger Burns and Gamecocks Win (Recap of Rider vs. South Carolina)

Monday night was the third straight day with a basketball game in a third straight different venue.  Saturday evening was the Mack Center in Hempstead.  Sunday was Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Iona - Duke women's basketball game.  I was now back in Columbia to see South Carolina host Rider in another Hoops for Hope regional game at the Colonial Life Arena.

It was also the third straight game I saw with my dear friend Tony Terentieff, aka Tieff to the loyal readers of this site.  Tieff stayed with me in Columbia after the Iona-Duke game and we went together to the arena.  Our plan was to have dinner at the Thirsty Fellow which is conveniently located by the arena, then take in the basketball game.

But right across from the arena, USC was having it's annual Tiger Burn (I am sure the World Wildlife Federation just loves that term).   It's an annual event before the annual Clemson-South Carolina football game.  As part of tradition, in the week leading up to the game, there is an event where each school burns an object of the other team.

This year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers student group built a thirty foot tiger that was to be burned during a ceremony.   As Tieff and I made our way from the parking lot, we saw a large crowd of students being treated to a musical act while the giant Tiger stood nearby.  We took a couple of pictures as we knew the fate that awaited the tiger.

We walked into the Thirsty Fellow.  It's a restaurant/ bar that has bookcases filled with books adorning most of the walls in the restaurant.  If you didn't know you were at an establishment near campus when you first walked in, you definitely knew within a few seconds. After a couple of minutes, we were able to find two seats at the bar.   A Sam Adams Winter Lager for Tieff, a Newcastle for me and then we ordered dinner.

Not too long after we got our meals, we heard and saw fireworks going off in the distance on the field which is across from the Thirsty Fellow.  The Tiger was now meeting its predestined fate.  We decided to just eat our meals and we would see the results in a little while.

After a tasty meal, we left the Thirsty Fellow just as the students were dispersing from the Tiger Burn event.  All that was left of the thirty foot tiger was a smoky shell.  The fireworks did their job and South Carolina had its annual Tiger Burn sacrifice.  It was onto the basketball game.

The Hoops for Hope Classic is one of those "tournaments" where four predestined teams play two home games against supposed "lesser" teams, then play the semifinals and finals in an exotic location.  In South Carolina's case, it's Puerto Vallarta.  The rest of the "lesser" teams that are in this tournament, like Rider, end up playing each other in a much less exotic location.  College basketball, like life, isn't fair.

Frank Martin could care less if South Carolina was playing in Puerto Vallarta, Columbia or your local YMCA.  He expects his teams to play at a high level at all times. If his Gamecocks are not playing up to his standards, you will see it on his face.

Martin would be a terrible poker player.  You know where he stands at all times; whether it's covering his face after a bad play, or staring hole through a player after a really bad play, or better yet, following his player he just yanked to his seat on the bench and giving a teaching lesson right on the spot.  

It's simply great theater and to be honest, part of the fun of watching a Gamecocks' game is just seeing Martin go off.  The only coach I would compare Martin to is Bruiser Flint on Drexel.  You have to see both live to truly appreciate them.

Unlike the previous USC game I attended, where they were down for most of the game, then rallied to force overtime before eventually defeating Wisconsin Milwaukee, the Gamecocks got off to a good start.  Aided by a very dumb technical foul by Rider's Nureen Lindsey, South Carolina jumped out to an 18-9 lead.   After an Eric Smith layup, the Gamecocks extended the lead to 29-15.

But South Carolina had a difficult time maintaining a double digit lead due to shooting themselves in the foot.  After a telegraphed cross court pass by Damien Leonard that resulted in a steal and a Lindsey layup to cut the lead to 32-23, Martin immediately called timeout.  The Gamecocks got the lead backup to double digits with a three from Leonard.  But again, Rider would cut the deficit to single digits and only trailed 44-37 at the half.

The Gamecocks were shooting the ball well for the most part, but Tieff and I thought they were too three point happy in the first half.  Half of the Gamecocks' thirty two first half attempts were from beyond the arc.  Though they hit sixteen of them, you would like to have seen them get the ball to their forwards Lakeem Jackson and R.J. Slawson more in the first half.

Well they got the ball to Slawson in the second half.  The first problem was he was outside the three point line. The second and more consequential problem was that Slawson hoisted an ill advised three that was way off the mark.  That prompted Martin to immediately yank Slawson and give him the death stare.  South Carolina was only up 50-45.

Slowly though, the Gamecocks started pulling away from the Broncs, due in large part to Brenton Williams.  Williams had another terrific game for South Carolina, scoring twenty two points and adding four assists.  The hero from the free throw line against the Panthers, Williams was again a perfect three for three from the line.   But what stood out was a play about midway through the second half where Williams leaped over the press row and ended up into the first row as he saved a ball from going out of bounds.  It was an impressive feat of athleticism and hustle.

However, even Williams' outstanding play on the night didn't spare him from Martin's wrath.  After hitting a basket, Williams didn't get into position and fouled a Rider player on a drive attempt.  Martin yelled out to Williams as clear as day "WHY ARE YOU REACHING?!"

Despite allowing some easy Broncs' layups, eventually the Gamecocks pulled away with a 13-2 run and went up 86-66 with three minutes left.  It looked like South Carolina was putting it all together.

But the Gamecocks got sloppy with four turnovers and the Broncs went on an 10-0 run.  During the run, Smith threw a bad pass which resulted in a turnover, where he subsequently made matters worse by fouling Lindsey on a layup.  This resulted in one last classic Martin outburst as he immediately took Smith out of the game  Martin preceded to follow Smith to his spot on the bench and gave him quite the tongue lashing.

South Carolina eventually ended up winning 88-76.   Martin had to be happy with his offense.  The Gamecocks were much more economical from beyond the arc in the second half, hitting seven of their eleven three pointers in the last twenty minutes.  South Carolina shot fifty three percent from the field.  Williams led four Gamecocks in double figure scoring.

However, Martin was probably not happy that Rider shot fifty percent from the field, including twenty one of thirty nine from two point range.  Lindsey, the transfer from St John's, led all scorers with twenty six points.

All in all it was a fun night for many of the fans in attendance.  They got to see a Gamecock win, a Tiger burn and Frank Martin burn.  What else can a fan ask for?