Frank Martin held his fist in the air. Kentucky players, hands lifted over their heads, walked like zombies back to the locker room.

A student section filled to the brim surged toward the baseline, bottlenecking near the corner as the event staff struggled mightily to keep the horde off the court.

The noise rose to a level so loud it blocked out the sound of the buzzer and the public address announcer warning against court storming.

Somewhere in the middle of all if it was Jermaine Couisnard, the hero prompting the pandemonium Wednesday night.

“Jermaine was going to get that shot. He just wasn’t going to be denied,” Martin said. “The right guy took the shot. The ball bounced our way.”

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Wednesday, with the game on the line, was the seminal moment of Couisnard’s young career. With the game on the line, Couisnard caught the ball with 4.1 seconds left and took four dribbles.

With the game on the line, Couisnard pulled up from the L in Colonial Life Arena plastered at halfcourt. His first thought? Air ball.

Then the ball glanced off the backboard and in. Bank, and the Gamecocks win 81-78.

“He was hot the whole game,” Keyshawn Bryant. “When it went up I looked right at him and started chasing him. I was coming for him, too."

Not even knowing if the ball would go in or not, Couisnard had a plan. The buzzer sounded and the entirety of the Gamecock bench sprinted after him.

Couisnard darted to one end of the court with the hope of faking out his teammate by sprinting back to the other end of the court.

It didn’t work; they caught up with him and mobbed him in front of the Kentucky players, surrender-cobraing toward the visitor locker room.

“I was trying to have fun and enjoy the moment,” Couisnard said, one half of his mouth curling into a smile.

For Couisnard, it’s the culmination of what has been an up and down freshman season. A player who delved too deep into his own feelings when he wasn’t scoring early in the season fought through and came out on the other side a better player and now the team’s leader.

“I’m happy for Jermaine,” Martin said. “He could have joined the club and stayed quiet and passive. He’s refused to do that. He’s taking ownership of the team. As a coach, I probably should have given him more ownership a little sooner than I did.”

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Couisnard scored a career-high 26 points on 9-for-22 shooting and went 4-for-5 from three, his last one being arguably the biggest of his career.

The redshirt freshman who had to sit out all of last season came in with the reputation of a scorer didn’t necessarily live up to the lofty hype some had put on him. Wednesday night he did, and the Gamecocks are 1-2 in the SEC because of it.

“There are very few freshmen that jump into college basketball and it’s boom from day one,” Martin said. “He’s really been coming on since before Christmas. I’m really happy for him. We needed that personality on our team.”

His presence is notable when he’s on the floor, and it should be. Couisnard waited all of last year itching to play and this was the first taste of what the Gamecocks truly have in their now starting point guard.

Now, as he settles into his new role, he’s becoming the heartbeat of a team looking for a leader.

“Last year I was sitting out and took the lead of Chris Silva and trying to sit and learn from him, giving players confidence,” he said.

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Couisnard was the shining star in the SEC and maybe college basketball Wednesday, giving the nation a glimpse of something Martin’s seen for the better part of six weeks.

It looks like Couisnard will be the starting point guard for games to come, and probably should have happened even sooner.

“I probably should have started him against Tennessee,” Martin said. “He’s been that good and committed to what we’re doing. As a coach, when kids work hard, you want them to be rewarded."