South Carolina has played a lot of games over the last 20 years but Wednesday will go down as one of the best offensive performances of the last two decades and one of the best of the Frank Martin era.

The Gamecocks—coming off a bad performance against Clemson—turned in 105 points on nearly 60 percent shooting in what was an overwhelming offensive output for the team’s ninth win.

“Ball movement, it wasn’t just people standing around staring at the guy with the ball. The guy with the ball wasn’t trying to create an And-One video to put on social media,” Martin said.

"We actually tried to play through structure, play with each other and have movement off the ball so we can pass. It’s hard to pass the basketball when guys off the ball don’t move. It was better.”

South Carolina averaged 134.1 points per 100 possessions against the Black Knights, which was the third best in the Martin era and highest since 2016. It’s the 10th-highest of the KenPom era, which dates back to the 2001-02 season.

The Gamecocks got solid contributions from Devin and Chico Carter, both going for a combined 42 points, but Jacobi Wright and Erik Stevenson each finished in double figures as the Gamecocks finished hitting 53.3 percent of their threes.

After just four assists against Clemson, South Carolina assisted on 39 percent of made baskets and had 24 fast break points on 18 forced turnovers.

“Whenever everybody’s hitting shots it helps our team a lot, especially when we don’t have to force anything and we’re moving the ball and have a lot of team assists. That helps us whenever it comes down to offense,” Devin Carter said. “When we get out in transition and get easy buckets I feel like that plays a big part in why we score so much.”

The Gamecocks currently rank 175th nationally (100.9) now in offensive efficiency, just above the national average of 100.7.

While there’s still a lot more progress to me, the Gamecocks have pieces to work with and it’s about consistently getting contributions from those guys.

“Now you have to make adjustments because every players talents are unique. You can’t run the same play for Devin Carter that I would run if Jacobi’s in the game or for Jermaine. Everything’s unique. While there’s a foundation there the tweaks within the foundation.”

Getting injured or COVID guys back will also help as the Gamecocks finish up non-conference play next week before getting into SEC play.

This year, as it sits now, the league has seven teams (including South Carolina) in the top 50 of defensive efficiency with the two best nationally in Tennessee and LSU.

“Everything is a little different,” Martin said. “That’s why offensively you’re constantly adjusting, but I think we got some good players.”

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