SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

The Gamecocks were searching for answers after a 20-point loss to Houston, which prompted a few changes from Frank Martin heading into a big stretch to end non-conference play.

It worked to start with South Carolina pulling off road wins against Clemson and Virginia but since then, the offense has flashed but also stagnated at times.

As the Gamecocks take a two-game losing streak into this weekend’s game against Tennessee, Martin said he’s not really looking to make any changes like he did a month ago.

“I’m not real happy right now, but those aren’t decisions I’m going to make after a game,” he said after South Carolina’s 81-68 loss to Florida. “It worked out pretty good against Clemson and Virginia. You can sit around and look at that Stetson performance and say this guy and that guy, the end of the day, your guards set the tone for our team. Our guards set the tone for our team that day.”

Also see: Numbers to know and more before today's hoops game

Starting with the Clemson game, Martin tweaked the starting lineup by replacing Wildens Leveque with Justin Minaya and moving Jair Bolden to more of an off-the-ball role while AJ Lawson took on more point guard duties.

It’s been an up and down experiment offensively with the Gamecocks putting up their best offensive efficiency (111 points per 100 possessions) against Virginia and their second-worst (83.3) against Stetson.

Over their last four games since the changes the Gamecocks are averaging 65.25 points with an average offensive efficiency of 95.1. Their average effective field goal percentage is 49.1 percent with the team shooting 49 percent from two and 31.9 from three.

As a team, they’ve had 45 assists to 63 turnovers.

Moving Lawson to more of an on-ball role puts him in more situations to get to the rim and have more scoring opportunities.

“I think it’s gone well,” Bolden said. “I think in our offense AJ’s better suited with the ball because he’s the better slasher. I think it’s gone well.”

Also see: Justus Boone breaks down his recruitment

Over their last four games, Lawson is averaging 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists to 4.3 turnovers while shooting 38.8 percent from the field.

Bolden is averaging 11 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.5 turnovers per game and is shooting 38.5 percent over that stretch.

They’ve had their highs—Bolden’s 22 points against Virginia and Lawson’s 20-point showing at Clemson—and some lows as well.

Last game, a loss to Florida, they combined for 24 points but shot 7-for-29 from the floor.

“They were engaged. The ball didn’t go in the basket for them. They were engaged. I wish they had put up a better fight defensively than what they did. They were engaged,” Martin said. “We became a real quiet team in the second half. That bothers me. That’s where my concern is…Every time things get difficult, we get real quiet. I think with guards, that is where the responsibility starts at. That’s one area we have to get better at.”

Also see: The very latest with Ger-Cari Caldwell

Now that it looks like Lawson and Bolden will still have their same roles when the Gamecocks (8-6, 0-1 SEC) take on Tennessee at 1 p.m. Saturday, they have one of the bigger challenges of the game.

Tennessee is elite this year in limiting two-point shooting percentages with teams converting inside the arc at just a 41.1 percent clip, sixth-lowest percentage in the country.

Because the Vols protect the paint so well, it’ll be up to the guard duo to set the tone and hit shots early to extend the defense and open up easier looks for the team’s big men.

Bolden knows how important it is, but the Gamecocks are also focusing on stymying the Vol offense to create more offense.

“If we’re not scoring the ball we need to make sure the other team isn’t scoring the ball,” he said. “If we’re not having a great shooting night, we need to make sure they’re not having a great shooting day either. That’ll be one of the ways we can get wins even if we’re not shooting the ball well.”