Frank Haith understood fully what to expect when his Tulsa team drew South Carolina in the second game of the Hall of Fame Classic.

Haith and Martin have been squaring off for the better part of a decade, with almost 10 games between the two since 2010, with Sunday being the latest in a long line of matchups.

And Haith walked away from the game—a 69-58 South Carolina win—impressed with this iteration of a Frank Martin coached team.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Frank. He’s a tremendous coach. They play the way he wants them to play. This group has great size, great physicality and they have great depth,” Haith said. “If they shoot the ball the way they did against us and the way they shot threes I think they’re going to be just fine.”

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The Gamecocks were coming off a disappointing loss in their first game to Liberty, a 78-62 loss, and rebounded well against Tulsa.

South Carolina shot 48.1 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from three, and were paced in large part from their two starters and preseason All-SEC guards AJ Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard.

The duo combined for 37 points, led by Couisnard’s 20, and were incredibly efficient scoring the ball. They’d shoot 12-for-23 (52.2 percent) from the field—7-for-15 from three—and were a combined plus-24 when on the court.

Lawson’s been terrific through the first two games, averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 52.6 percent from the field. He’s leading the team shooting 46.2 percent from three (6-for-13).

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“I think they’re super-talented guys. Couisnard has such a tremendous body and plays with such great poise,” Haith said. “AJ shot the ball very well. I think they’re two really good players, SEC type of athletes with SEC type bodies. Lawson is still young but he’s going to be terrific.”

But it’s not just Lawson and Couisnard; the entire Gamecocks’ guard group has been good to start the season.

The group of five guards—Lawson, Couisnard, Seventh Woods, TJ Moss and Trae Hannibal—are responsible for 64.9 percent of the Gamecocks’ 131 points and are shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three.

They’ve combined for 21.5 percent of the team’s rebounds and 80 percent of assists and steals to start the season.

“Trae’s been tremendous, man. Him and TJ Moss have been unbelievable in preseason practice with their energy and toughness,” Martin said. “Both guys went in there today and Trae did it yesterday but we didn’t help him. He went on the floor and tried to make plays for us.”

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The Gamecocks (1-1) have one of their biggest non-conference tests coming up with a road tilt at No. 10 Houston Saturday.

Tip against the Cougars is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN Plus.