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Before Tuesday, Chris Silva’s last two games were probably two he’d like to forget.

The senior and reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC played a combined 21 minutes, bottoming out with a season-low eight minutes against LSU, and had more fouls (10) than points (nine).

The Gamecocks struggled with him off the floor for large chunks of the game, a problem that’s plagued him since his freshman year, and entering this week Frank Martin didn’t have an answer for Silva’s foul trouble.

“I’m past frustrated,” he said. “I was frustrated his sophomore year. It is what it is.”

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Tuesday night, Silva showed why he’s so valuable to his team when he avoids foul trouble in a seminal moment of his storied Gamecock career.

Silva took his budding frustrations out on Auburn, going off for a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds as the Gamecocks (10-8, 5-1 SEC) upset No. 16 Auburn 80-77.

He did it on 11-for-12 shooting and added four blocks to his total as he notched his fifth double-double of the season and 20th of his career.

And he took over a game like he and the Gamecocks know he can when he stays on the floor.

“He’s got to be on the court to help us win games. We’ve been saying this the last two years. When he’s on the court, he helps us. When he stays on the court he does so many things that don’t come up on the stat sheet to help us win. Chris is an unbelievable kid,” Martin said. “I’m really, really happy for him.”

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While he helped out a lot on offense, one of his biggest impacts came on the defensive end, forcing post-presence Anfernee McLemore to foul out and Horace Spencer to pick up his fifth foul as well.

Silva single-handedly forced 11 stops Tuesday and was a key factor on Auburn’s final possession, contesting a three-pointer and ultimately hauling in the game-winning rebound.

He and Maik Kotsar combined for 19 of the team’s 40 rebounds.

“Chris and Maik have played together for three years. When they’re on the court, our defensive efficiency numbers are way up. When one of them is on the court, our defensive efficiency numbers are OK. When both are out? Our defensive efficiency numbers are no good,” Martin said. “They allow our defense to be better.”

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Silva was able to shake off the cobwebs from those two rough games in two tough practices. Martin joked that Silva practiced Sunday and Monday like “a guy that only played six minutes.”

After his two worst performances since early December, Silva posted his second double-double of SEC play. In six conference games, he's averaging 14 points and 6.8 rebounds. In games in which he doesn't foul out, he’s averaging 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds.

And, when he was celebrating, leaping about three feet in the air as the final buzzer sounded and the Gamecocks clinched their second win over a top 25 team this season, those rough couple games were far from his mind.

“When you talk about emotions, I was just thinking about the beginning of the season when I was playing without emotion and it was a real struggle for me,” he said. “When I enjoy the game, the emotion just comes out.”