Kermit Davis: Gamecocks 'look like an NCAA Tournament team'

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

Kermit Davis has spent two of the last three years coaching an NCAA Tournament team and his Ole Miss team now looks destined for postseason play, so he knows what a tournament team looks like.

At this point in the year, he says South Carolina fits the mold.

“It was like men among boys out there. They killed us on the glass in the first half,” Davis said. “We got beat on the boards. It was a physical college game. South Carolina’s got a real good team. They look like an NCAA Tournament team.”

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The Gamecocks (14-12, 9-4) walloped Davis’s Rebels 79-64 Tuesday, beating an 18-win team with eight of those wins coming in conference play.

Chris Silva had 18 points, and AJ Lawson and Hassani Gravett added another 15 apiece to the mix, leading to the Gamecocks’ 15-point win at Colonial Life Arena.

Davis left very impressed with not only Silva, but Lawson as well, and thinks the Gamecocks have the right mix of talent in the front and backcourts to make some noise if they ultimately get into the dance.

“They got very competitive guards, they have a very competitive low post guy who has just as much experience as any center in our league for sure—he’s been through all the battles—and they have depth in the perimeter,” Davis said. “They do. Their team played well. You look at them and they have four losses in our league, all to top 10 teams. If they get in the tournament, they can sure win games in the tournament.”

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The Gamecocks have a weird resume, going 5-8 in non-conference play but are now rattling off nine conference wins and are in sole possession of fourth in the SEC with five games to play.

They currently have four Quad I wins based on NET rankings entering Tuesday’s game, which is a solid building block for a bubble resume.

But Frank Martin said he’s not focused on that right now, making a deflating balloon sound when asked about the bubble after Tuesday’s loss.

“I can’t be worried about that right now. I have to be worried about these kids and Mississippi State,” he said. “But if someone wins 12 league games in the SEC and doesn’t get in the NCAA Tournament, I think that’d be a travesty. I think that’d be as sad as sad can be.”

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The Gamecocks are sitting in a good position to pick up 12 wins with all five games left against teams with a .500 or worse record in league play entering Tuesday.

Now the goal, over the next few weeks and entering the SEC Tournament becomes picking up as many resume-building wins as possible.

“That’s our goal. We’re trying to get there. It’s going to take everybody on the same page if we want to get there,” Silva said. “We’re hoping we make it there.”