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MBB: USC beats Newberry

The second game of Sunday’s women’s/men’s doubleheader was much more competitive than the first. South Carolina pulled away from Newberry in the second half to win 107-89 at Colonial Life Arena.

Head coach Frank Martin cautioned during the week that the game could be closer than it would have appeared on paper. Newberry plays an unusual style of basketball with its pressing defense, five-man substitutions, and all-guard lineup firing away from three. South Carolina did not do much in the way of game-planning either, preferring to focus on itself in practice.

For most of the first half, the Gamecocks couldn’t figure out the Wolves. They played frantically on offense and turned the ball over 12 times against the Wolves’ pressure, struggling to get into their offense or take advantage of their superior size. Not too mention the Gamecock players were gasping for breath at every dead ball.

The second half was different. It was Newberry who wore down, tired from being leaned on by players who were six and nine inches taller than them. The 50-50 balls started to all go South Carolina’s way, and the frantic offensive pace gave way to something equally fast, but under control.

“It was kind of different for us, them playing with five guards,” Sindarius Thornwell said. “We got caught up in trying to overhelp and leave our responsibilities. Coming out of halftime we got settled down and played our assignments.”

Martin thought the key was on the other end of the court. By playing under control on offense, the Gamecocks allowed their defense a chance to get set.

“We got suckered into shooting threes and trying to make plays off the dribble instead of passing,” he said. “That’s what we talked about at halftime.”

Mostly though, Thornwell dominated the game. He is in the best shape of his career and he has the ideal skill set to thrive against a team like Newberry. He scored (34 points), he passed (five assists), he rebounded (11 rebounds), and he defended (five blocks and two steals). He was a calming presence on the court for all the young players appearing in their first game.

“Sin does more coaching on the court than I do right now,” Martin said.

Duane Notice and PJ Dozier joined Thornwell in double figures with 17 points apiece. Notice had 11 points in the first half, hitting timely threes that kept the struggling offense afloat. Dozier picked up the slack in the second half, doing most of his damage on layups and mid-range jumpers. South Carolina dominated the glass in the second half, nearly doubling up Newberry 30-16 in rebounding.

“They wore us down physically,” Newberry coach Dave Davis said. “We fought so hard in the first half (but got tired).”

Freshman Ran Tut did not play. Martin said he probably could have played if the game counted. Fellow freshman Maik Kotsar left the game in the second half with cramps. Martin said the freshmen were extremely nervous going into the game, and he expects that to be gone when the season starts on Friday. He also expects them to play harder.

“The only thing that concerned me was some of their guys were playing harder than some of our guys,” Martin said. “That’s the challenge of playing young guys.”

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