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Aftermath: Biggest week of Martin's tenure beckons for Gamecocks

Evan Hinson, a tight end on South Carolina's FB team, debuted with the hoops team on Saturday
Evan Hinson, a tight end on South Carolina's FB team, debuted with the hoops team on Saturday (Chris Gillespie, Gamecock Central)

For as long as college athletics have existed, coaches have always sought to treat regular games equally in order to keep their players focused on the immediate task at hand, which is win the next game.

Paraphrasing George Orwell, though, some games are more equal than others.

So it is with South Carolina’s upcoming SEC matchups this week against Florida (Wed. at home) and Kentucky (Sat. in Lexington).

Now that the Gamecocks are 4-0 in the SEC following Saturday night’s 67-56 dismantling of the undermanned Ole Miss Rebels at Colonial Life Arena (the game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates – USC led by 25 points with less than 8 minutes remaining before a late flurry by Ole Miss), attention afterwards turned quickly to possibly the biggest week of Frank Martin’s five-year tenure as Gamecocks coach.

Florida and Kentucky are both 5-0 in the league and sit atop the SEC standings by one-half game over the Gamecocks following their earlier victories Saturday, although the Gators needed overtime to slip past Georgia in Gainesville.

Next week provides a massive opportunity for the unranked Gamecocks to make a national statement.

Actually, a national STATEMENT.

“It’s fair to say those have been the two dominant programs in this conference for the past 15 years,” Martin said after Saturday's win improved the Gamecocks to 10-1 at home this season. “Those two teams have always been in the conversation (for best SEC team). We’re aware of that. But when next Saturday night comes (post-UK), we still have to play the following week. So, we’re not going to celebrate if something good happens or go into a depression if something bad happens.”

South Carolina was No. 30 in the RPI coming into Saturday’s game and should rise a spot or two because of the 11-point win over Ole Miss. Florida and Kentucky were No. 3 and No. 6, respectively, in the RPI, so a victory over either team would catapult the Gamecocks up the rankings, as well as the AP and Coaches polls.

“It’s a good barometer for our basketball team,” Martin said. “Our duty from day one here has not been to knock those people down. It’s been to elevate us to be able to compete with those two programs. It will be a good challenge for us. I know our guys will be excited. But we have to play a lot better.”

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy, a former Cincinnati assistant along with Martin under Bob Huggins, has already played USC, Florida and Kentucky in the first two weeks of the conference season and believes the Gamecocks can hang with both the Gators and Wildcats because of their suffocating defense.

“Those will be two big battles,” Kennedy said after Saturday’s game. “(South Carolina) and Kentucky will be a battle of wills. Frank will want to play one way and Kentucky is so athletic and fast. But South Carolina is not going to allow a lot of those things just based on the way they play. Inside, they will match up just fine based on how they play off the glass. Those (USC, UF UK) are the three best teams (in the SEC).”

Defensively, the Gamecocks certainly have the chops to stick with Florida and Kentucky as USC led the SEC in scoring defense (60.0), field goal percentage defense (36.8) and 3-point FG percentage defense (27.8) heading into Saturday’s games.

The win over Ole Miss marked the third straight game USC has forced 21 or more turnovers from opponents. Tennessee and Ole Miss combined to shoot just 34.6 percent (37-107) against the Gamecocks in the last two games.

The key question for the next two games is whether the Gamecocks have the offensive firepower to beat the Gators and/or Wildcats. They struggled shooting the basketball against the Vols and Rebels. Saturday, they made only 36.4 percent of their shots (20-55) and committed 20 turnovers.

“Offensively, we’re a work in progress,” Martin said. “That’s two games in a row with 20 turnovers. That’s not good. The field goal percentage, I’m OK with that. But that’s two games in a row we can’t get lined up the right way and we turn the ball over. That’s a recipe for major problems.

“But we rebounded and played with energy on defense. Playing hard and our desire is not a problem. Our inability to play offense the right way the last two games is a problem. We have to fix that. If we want to compete with the top two programs in this league year in and year out, we have to play better on offense and line up and make shots.”

Shooting poorly and exhibiting carelessness with the basketball won’t earn USC a ‘W’ against either Florida or Kentucky.

“They’re huge (games),” P.J. Dozier said after Saturday’s game. “Our mindset is always the next game is the biggest game. We’ll focus on Florida after tonight and worry about Kentucky after the Florida game.”

Facing Florida and Kentucky won’t get Martin any more agitated on the sidelines, or so he says.

“We could play Mighty Mouse and his four cousins on Wednesday and I’ll be worked up,” Martin acknowledged. “I feel comfortable with our guys already. We’ll learn how some of the things we do work against these two teams specifically.

“We have to put on our big boy pants and go. When the week is over, it’s three weeks out of a long conference season out of the way.”

NEXT FIVE GAMES

Jan. 18 FLORIDA, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Jan. 21 at Kentucky, TBA (ESPN or ESPN2)*

Jan. 24 AUBURN, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Jan. 28 at Missouri, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Feb. 1 at LSU, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)*

(All Times Eastern)

* SEC Game

SEC RESULTS (Sat. Jan. 14)

Florida 80, Georgia 76

Mississippi State 67, Texas A&M 59

Alabama 81, LSU 66

Kentucky 92, Auburn 72

Arkansas 92, Missouri 73

South Carolina 67, Ole Miss 56

Tennessee 87, Vanderbilt 75

(All Times Eastern)

SEC STANDINGS (As of Jan. 14)

Kentucky 5-0

Florida 5-0

South Carolina 4-0

Alabama 3-1

Mississippi State 3-1

Georgia 3-2

Tennessee 2-3

Vanderbilt 2-3

Arkansas 2-3

Ole Miss 1-4

LSU 1-4

Auburn 1-4

Texas A&M 1-4

Missouri 0-4

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Rhodes scholar recipient Jory Fleming was honored at halftimeof Saturday's game
Rhodes scholar recipient Jory Fleming was honored at halftimeof Saturday's game (Chris Gillespie, Gamecock Central)
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