South Carolina tries to win its third in a row Wednesday night at Auburn.
1. Wild Week
Raise your hand if you expected this to be a game between a team on a two-game winning streak and a team on a two-game losing streak. Okay, lots of people. But who thought South Carolina would have the winning streak and Auburn would have the losing streak?
South Carolina went 2-0 last week, with an upset then #10 Kentucky and a win at Texas A&M. Auburn, on the other hand, went 0-2 with lopsided losses at Alabama and Florida.
Auburn plummeted from #4 to #16 in the AP Poll, which suggests that in the eyes of many voters they were, pardon the pun, paper Tigers to begin with, and only reached the top five off the cachet of the undefeated record. The fall was much less drastic in the NET rankings, where Auburn is still a sturdy #20 (South Carolina is 99).
2. SEC Standings
The SEC standings are usually a mess this time of year, but this year is extra chaotic. LSU sits atop the standings, but with that whole federal wire fraud thing hanging over Will Wade, does anybody have any confidence in the Tigers? Then you have Kentucky. We’re pretty sure they are good, but they did blow that 14 -point lead to South Carolina. I think we know that Vanderbilt (especially with all the injury problems), Ole Miss, Missouri, and Georgia are bad. That leaves the other eight teams who may or may not be good, and all with two or three losses.
In other words, with a winnable home game against Vanderbilt on Saturday, South Carolina has a chance to move to the front of that middle pack if it can beat Auburn. It’s not that different from where South Carolina has found itself in the past, coming off a rocky non-conference slate and then finding its groove in the SEC.
“I know (my team) better now than I did December 1st,” Martin said. “The season will determine whether this team learns to win or lose. We’re still in the middle of that book.
“There’s so much basketball to play, so many moments, who knows what’s in front of us?”
3. All About AJ
It took about 30 minutes, but AJ Lawson finally broke out of his shooting slump late against Texas A&M. He hit three late three-pointers to put the game out of reach and finished with four baskets, equaling his total from the previous three games. He wasn’t quite the player he usually is, but he’s getting there.
“It’s been pretty tough for me because I haven’t been playing my best offensively,” Lawson said. “Defensively I’ve been playing my heart out, and I feel like I’ve been guarding pretty well, it’s just offensively I couldn't knock down any shots. Seeing the ball go in against A&M felt really good for me, for my confidence, and I feel good right now.”
Martin praised Lawson for continuing to work through the struggles, and thinks he is a better player because of it.
“All this is really good for him, he’s going to grow up because of this,” Martin said. “Dealing with adversity is good for people. It’s not bad for people. All this is really good for him, and seeing the way he handles it is ever better.”
4. Injury report
South Carolina beat Texas A&M despite being without three rotation players. TJ Moss missed the game due to a death in the family, and he will be available Wednesday. The other two are less certain.
About three minutes into the game, Keyshawn Bryant collided with a Texas A&M player while going after a loose ball and suffered a head injury. Trae Hannibal sprained his ankle earlier in the week and was not available. When Martin spoke to the media Monday, he was still uncertain if either would be available.
Martin said that Bryant did not have bad concussion symptoms, but he was still being held out. The swelling in Hannibal’s ankle had gone down, but he had not practiced and his status was “up in the air.”
Expect an update later on Wednesday.
5. Scouting the Tigers
Auburn is, more or less, what a Bruce Pearl team usually is. They shoot a lot, play aggressive defense, and push the tempo. Auburn doesn’t get as much offense from defense as it has in the past, forcing just 14.6 turnovers per game (South Carolina, by comparison, forces 15.5).
As the losses to Alabama and Florida showed, that lack of easy baskets can be a problem. Auburn shot just 31.7 percent against Alabama and was 7-28 from three. Against Florida, Auburn was even worse, shooting 25.5 percent and going 4-23 from three. Auburn also allowed Florida to shoot 50 percent from the floor, and that has left the Tigers scrambling. Even Auburn wants to get the ball inside, center Austin Wiley is the only player over 6-7 that gets any significant playing time, which leaves Auburn vulnerable against big, physical teams. South Carolina fits one of those descriptions.
The concern is that it has been vulnerable against the three at times, and South Carolina has played more 3-2 zone to try to correct that. Martin credited assistant coach Bruce Shingler with the idea to try a 3-2 instead of the more common 2-3 against Texas A&M.
“This team can be a pretty good zone team,” Martin said. “I always felt this could be a really good defensive team, but we’re fouling too much. A lot of our fouls are playing behind in the post, reach-ins when they drive us, overzealous shot blockers. We’ve got to keep cleaning that up.”
The Ws
Who: South Carolina (10-7, 2-2) at #16 Auburn (15-2, 3-2)
When: Wednesday, January 22, 7:00 pm
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, AL
Watch: ESPNU
