The conversation that prompted Gravett's big game

Frank Martin has talked all season about a conversation he had with Chris Silva in December where the two hashed things out to get the preseason All-SEC player back to the way he was playing his junior year.

This week, Martin had a conversation with Hassani Gravett that was a little different but equally productive.

“We had a one-sided conversation after Tennessee,” Martin said after the Gamecocks 86-80 win at Georgia Saturday. “He listened and he came out and had two practices where he helped his team. I don’t mean helped by making shots, I mean helped by his voice, his enthusiasm, with being where he belongs. He practiced that way. That was the way he had been practicing heading into last week.”

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The senior snapped back into the way he had been practicing over the Gamecocks’ 4-0 start in SEC play and it showed Saturday.

Gravett was one of four players in double figures for the Gamecocks (11-10, 6-2 SEC) who are in sole possession of fourth place in the SEC, one game behind one-loss Kentucky.

He finished with 13 points, eight of those coming in the second half. He went 3-for-4 from three and hit two over the final five minutes of the game to keep the Bulldogs at arm’s reach.

“Hassani’s been stepping up a lot and becoming more of a leader,” Keyshawn Bryant said. “It’s his senior year so he’s trying to be more of a go-to guy and he’s actually stepped up.”

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Martin talked to Gravett after a 22-point home loss to Tennessee where the guard mustered just four points and missed six of his eight shots.

It was the end of a rough week for him where he scored 12 points in two games, both losses, and the usually energetic player’s enthusiasm in practice started to dip.

That prompted the conversation from Martin before Thursday’s practice, and things changed quickly for the guard in the two days leading up to Saturday’s win.

“He handled it like a senior does,” Martin said. “He understood what I said, didn’t pout and didn’t mope and didn’t dwell on the last day and came in ready to help us the last two days, and he did today.”

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Gravett was helped in the backcourt by Keyshawn Bryant and AJ Lawson with those two combining for 30 points, 16 of those coming after halftime.

Lawson tied Chris Silva with 19 points to lead all scorers and Bryant added 11 while providing a spark defensively.

He had five defensive boards and a block while also helping off the ball defensively, something Martin said he hasn’t done in the past.

For Bryant, his performance comes after a week where the team didn’t know if he’d be able to play until Friday. He not only played but contributed a lot along with Lawson.

“I tell him and AJ all the time: you guys are going to get frustrated at times because we’re all over you to play better, but don’t lose sight of the fact that you’re playing 30 minutes a game. That’s life as a freshman. Neither one fights it. We don’t win the game today without either one of those two guys.”