When the Gamecocks found themselves in a timeout clinging to a two-point lead, they knew which the ball was going as Arkansas was a few feet away in its own huddle drawing up a play to tie or win the game.
They knew the Razorbacks would try and get the ball to Mason Jones, who already had 34 points and 12 rebounds that day, and the biggest question was who would draw the defensive assignment with eight seconds left.
That’s when Trae Hannibal piped up.
“I’ve been begging all year when we’re struggling to defend a real good guard to get someone to say, ‘I got him.’ That young man said it,” Frank Martin told reporters Wednesday. “It’s the first time all year a guard said, ‘Don’t switch, put me on him.’ I said you got him. Trae did an unbelievable job of defending that action they ran to get him the ball in the middle of the floor so they had to go to Joe.”
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Hannibal denied the ball to Jones on the inbounds play, forcing the Razorbacks to get the ball instead to Isaiah Joe, who missed a contested three pointer in front of AJ Lawson to secure a big 79-77 win on the road.
For Hannibal, it wasn’t just one stellar defensive play that defined his game, but a myriad of other plays building into what was a career night for him.
The freshman built more like a boulder than a point guard finished with career highs in points (11) made field goals (4), free throw attempts (6) and tied a career high with three made free throws.
With Jermaine Couisnard battling foul trouble it was Hannibal earning the bulk of the minutes after halftime. He’d play 15 of the 20 minutes with all 11 points coming after the break.
A guy who struggled to get on the court at the beginning of the year has now played at least nine minutes in the last four games he’s played in.
“Trae’s been practicing a lot better. Our last game out against Vanderbilt I thought he played the best game for us,” Martin said. “He’s earning the right to get on the court. We have a bunch of other guards older than him just beat him out early. He stayed the course. He’s earning the right to get on the court.”
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It really started in the Vanderbilt game, where Hannibal played 16 minutes and handled a lot of point guard duties in a 26-point win.
Martin joked it was because Hannibal “did what I asked him to do,” outside of mixing up a play call and running “play Trae” and one defensive breakdown.
He’d finish that game with four points, four rebounds and five assists and did a good job containing Vandy’s best player, Saban Lee.
“He did what I asked him to do,” Martin said. “I thought he was really good on the ball. I thought Jermaine worked his tail off on Saban Lee and then Trae came in and he was rock solid on Saban Lee. I think that had something to do with wearing Saban Lee down. Trae had a lot to do with that. Trae ran our team. I thought he executed what I was calling for the most part. If that’s what you mean by let him play freer, then yeah. I let everyone play free but they better listen to what I had to say.”
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Hannibal, this season, has played in 15 games off and on, averaging 3.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assist while shooting almost 46 percent from the field.
He’d miss two games recently with an ankle injury but in the two games coming back is averaging 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game in 16 minutes.
The bulldozer of a human being is still getting adjusted to the college game and is showing flashes of what he can be as he goes deeper into his career. Martin said he talks with Hannibal all the time about how he’s hard on the freshman because he sees how good Hannibal can be.
“At this point, I’m still learning. Before I got here and when Coach Frank was recruiting me he told me I was going to be a great defender once I learned how to sit down and guard the ball because of what he saw,” Hannibal said. “Guarding the ball is my main focus. I know the offense will come down the line.”
