South Carolina broke its losing streak with a 91-70 rout of Georgia.

It turns out all South Carolina needed was Tre-Vaughn Minott. And the return of Jermaine Couisnard’s shooting touch, and Trae Hannibal’s play-making, and a little effort on defense

Minott, the 6-9, 280-pound center from Canada by way of Mexico who joined the Gamecocks in January, was a surprise starter. In his brief career, Minott had totaled four points and five rebounds in 24 minutes across four games. But he was an absolute stud to start the game, scoring six points, grabbing three rebounds, and playing solid defense as South Carolina jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead.

“Tre-Vaughn gave us that personality early in the game,” Frank Martin said. “He gives us a presence at the rim. He blocks shots. When you pass it to him he catches it and doesn’t trip over his feet.”

Conditioning and reality eventually caught up to Minott, and Georgia fought back to take a 17-15 lead. Then Hannibal and Couisnard combined for nine points during a 13-0 that put South Carolina ahead for good. South Carolina held Georgia scoreless for nearly 6:30 during that span. Couisnard, who has been mired in a shooting slump for most of the season, had ten points by halftime, matching his total from his previous four games and putting him in double-digits for the first time since the last Georgia game.

Georgia pulled within four in the second half, but AJ Lawson, who was just 1-6 shooting at that point, made a tough layup. South Carolina embarked on a 21-6 run over the next five-minutes that put the game away, once again sparked by Couisnard and Hannibal, who combined for seven points, three assists, four rebounds, and three steals.

“After the year we’ve had, our guys might have hung their heads, said here we go again,” Martin said. “Instead they locked in defensively.”

Defensively South Carolina forced 19 turnovers, got 15 points off, and held Georgia to 37% shooting. It was the best defensive performance since the last Georgia game. South Carolina was flying around the court, jumping in passing lanes and diving for loose balls.

“When’s the last time we did that?” Martin asked.

Couisnard finished with a season-high 23 points on 8-16 shooting with 4-8 from three. He hadn’t made a three since the Florida game and came in shooting under 30% for the season.

“I give a lot of appreciation to my teammates because they kept me lifted through all of the things I was going through,” Couisnard said. “They told me to keep on playing with confidence and keep on shooting the ball.”

Hannibal tied his career-high with 15 points, had five assists, and career-highs of eight rebounds and four steals. Hannibal shot 6-8 from the floor, and is now 12-14 and 3-3 from three in his last two games while playing physical defense. He and Couisnard combined to form the physical and aggressive backcourt pair that South Carolina has been missing all season.

“We’re just playing together and feeding off each other,” Couisnard said. “He’s got a high motor and he kept getting in my ear telling me to keep going and keep being aggressive.”

It came after Hannibal was left home this week while South Carolina played Mississippi State so that he could, in Martin’s words, take a deep breath.

“I’m really proud of him, he’s a really good kid, a really good player,” Martin said. “He was really good defensively today.”

“He’s really good at driving people,” Martin added. “He played strong, disciplined, and aggressive.”

Notes:

The win ended one streak while continuing another. The win ended the Gamecocks’ six-game losing streak, tied for the longest under Frank Martin. The win also extended the winning streak over Georgia to 10 games, going back to 2016. …The 91 points is a season-high. … Lawson finished with 11 points of 4-11 shooting. … Keyshawn Bryant had a relatively quiet game, yet finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. … Seventh Woods missed his second game with a head injury. … Sahvir Wheeler, coming off a triple-double against LSU, had seven points on 2-13 shooting, with seven rebounds, five assists, and seven turnovers. … South Carolina hosts Arkansas on Tuesday.