SOUTH CAROLINA MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Gamecocks take their perfect conference record to Nashville to face Vanderbilt Wednesday night.

1. How ‘bout Haase?

Throwing the game-winning pass to Chris Silva against Florida seems to have inspired Felipe Haase. Like most of his teammates, he struggled through an inconsistent start to the season. But Haase has come on of late, and halfway through the season he has surpassed his totals from his freshman season in almost every category.

Haase made a lot of threes early last season, and they somewhat masked his struggles. He wore down as the season progressed, and finished shooting just 27 percent from three and 38 percent overall. This season, he is less reliant on the three despite shooting 39 percent from behind the arc. That has led to more free throw attempts, where he is shooting 87.5 percent, and has made critical free throws in all three conference games. He’s improved his rebounding in those three games, averaging 5.7 per game.

Haase’s pass to Silva was perhaps the most impressive part of the play, although the defense he played on the ensuing inbound play, preventing Florida from even getting a successful pass, was every bit as important. Then against Mississippi State he scored 11 points, and against Missouri he had 14, and hit a big three late to end the Missouri threat.

2. If I could be like Maik

Maik Kotsar didn’t follow up his incredible 25 point, nine rebound game with anything nearly as dominating. But he did follow it up with a solid outing, and that is encouraging. Kotsar was Martin’s whipping boy early in the season, one of the primary culprits in the Gamecocks’ poor start. Since the Michigan game, Kotsar has steadied his performance. He scored 16 in that game, and since then, but then missed the next two games with a concussion. Since returning, he is averaging 10 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 1.5 assists, and a steal per game.

3. Campbell coming on

Lost in the shadow of the performances by Kotsar, Chris Silva, and Keyshawn Bryant, Tre Campbell has been playing solid basketball. Campbell began the season as the starting point guard, but by the end of the first game A.J. Lawson had taken over that role. He stayed in the starting lineup for the next five games, before losing his spot to T.J. Moss.

At the time, it appeared Campbell was on the way out. He was supposed to be this year’s Frank Booker, a three-and-D diamond in the rough, a graduate transfer ready to shine when finally given the right opportunity. Those expectations were probably unfair to begin with. Booker was a unique find, and nobody expected much of him before last season.

So maybe it was the weight of those expectations that made Campbell’s early season struggles seem worse. Martin commented early in the season that Campbell was having trouble picking up the Gamecocks’ system, reverting to his old Georgetown ways and keeping him out of step with his teammates. But opportunity presented itself when Moss got hurt, and Campbell got his starting job back.

Campbell scored just two points in each of his first two starts, and was just a placeholder for Hassani Gravett. But after the holiday break, things changed. Campbell scored 11 against North Greenville, just his second double digit scoring game of the season. That helped him find his stride, and he has emerged as a capable shooter. IN the three SEC games, Campbell is averaging 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and he has made two threes in each game on 46 percent shooting from three while playing solid defense. They aren’t numbers that set the world on fire, but he’s producing well above his career averages and becoming a valuable role player.

4. Others receiving votes

Three straight wins in the SEC will get you some notice. In this week’s AP poll, South Carolina received six votes. Mississippi State remained in the top 25 at #24, while FLorida got just one vote. Wofford got two.

Thankfully, the poll doesn’t mean anything. There’s a tournament in March to take care of things. But it is still quite a climb for a team that was once 4-7 and mired in a four game losing streak.

5. Scouting the Commodores

Vanderbilt is on the opposite path from South Carolina. Vanderbilt is 0-3 in the SEC and lost by 19 at Georgia. This after a non-conference schedule that wasn’t without some promise. Vanderbilt beat Arizona State back in December, and won at Southern Cal before that. Vanderbilt lost freshman guard Darius Garland after just five games with a torn meniscus. In that time he averaged a team-high 16.2 points, with a high game of 33 points.

Still, the Commodores are explosive offensively. They average 78.4 points per game and 86.1 points at home. Freshman Simisola Shittu leads the Commodores with 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He’s part of a young team that features just one senior, Joe Toye, as third-year coach Bryce Drew’s recruit success (he just signed Scottie Pippen, Jr.) continues to outpace the on court success.

The Ws

Who: South Carolina (8-7, 3-0) at Vanderbilt (9-6, 0-3)

When: Wednesday, January 16, 7:00 pm

Where: Memorial Gymnasium

Watch: SEC Network