SOUTH CAROLINA MEN’S BASKETBALL
South Carolina got an important 67-54 win over rival Clemson.
It was a game that won’t won’t make anyone’s list of classic rivalry editions. There were highlights, but mostly there were turnovers and fouls. The teams combined for 30 first half turnovers, as the teams traded 7-0 runs that passed for explosive offense. A late basket by Alanzo Frink gave South Carolina a 28-26 halftime lead.
The turnovers were replaced by fouls in the second half. There were a combined 12 fouls called in the first three minutes of the second half, and foul trouble forced both teams to turn to unorthodox lineups. That was a good thing for the deeper Gamecocks, who have more options that the injury-depleted Tigers, who have a much shorter bench.
Al-Amir Dawes made a three at the beginning of the half to briefly give Clemson a lead. Keyshawn Bryant made a free throw to tie the game, and then made another pair to retake the lead for good. His free throws started a 14-2 South Carolina run that, against offensively challenged Clemson, was too much to overcome.
Every time Clemson put a dent in the lead, South Carolina hit a three. When the Tigers cut the lead to six, Jair Bolden and AJ Lawson hit back-to-back threes to go back up twelve. Later, when Clemson got a couple open threes, Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard also buried threes to keep South Carolina ahead. And with less than two minutes to play, Lawson drove baseline, passed to Couisnard in the corner, and Couisnard made the extra pass to Bolden for a three and an insurmountable 13-point lead.
The only thing that kept the Tigers in the game were Gamecock turnovers. The Gamecocks shot 45 percent for the game, and 44 percent from three. They were plus-nine rebounding, and plus-14 in points in the paint. The Tigers relied almost entirely on the three-point shot, and for once, a Gamecock opponent missed from behind the arc. The Tigers were 9-32 from three and 14-50 overall, just 28 percent shooting.
Lawson had another strong game and finished with 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Maik Kotsar added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Bolden had ten points. Freshman Trae Hannibal, who got the most playing time of the season, provided a spark with four points, four rebounds, and two assists in 6 minutes before leaving with cramps.
Things got heated as the teams lined up for the handshake line. Bolden and Tevin Mack (who was 1-8 shooting) exchanged words. They were separated as Brad Brownell started shaking hands, but one of the referees and a Clemson official waved South Carolina players back to the locker room.
Notes:
Clemson finished with 22 turnovers. South Carolina had 21. … A sign of just how inept the offense was for much of the game, South Carolina had just 15 points off turnovers and Clemson just 12. … Frank Martin talked about playing players who would compete, and that meant sophomore walk-on Nathan Nelson seeing significant minutes in the first half. Nelson had never played meaningful minutes before. Nelson finished with three fouls in five minutes. … Dawes had 13 points but was 3-14 from three. … Aamir Simms had 21 points and eight rebounds, but was hampered by foul trouble and ultimately fouled out in 25 minutes. … South Carolina’s next game is next Sunday at Virginia.
