With Couisnard injured, Wright 'played like a seasoned veteran'
Ask Frank Martin on Thanksgiving day what to expect from Jacobi Wright against Rider and his answer might have been a lot different than what it was after the Gamecocks’ 65-58 win.
The freshman was coming off what Martin called a “really bad” practice and had two practices Thursday and Friday where Martin was admittedly hard on the point guard.
Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon when Wright—forced into action during crunch time—stitched together the best performance of his young career in a spot the Gamecocks need consistency out of.
“He played like a 22 year old today. He didn’t play like a little college freshman,” Martin said. “I mean he controlled our team, ran our team and played with courage, played aggressive.”
Wright finished with just six points on 2-for-5 shooting but went to the line four times, making two, and had four of the Gamecocks’ nine assists. South Carolina outscored Rider by 19 points with him on the floor while he picked up a season-high 24 minutes.
The South Carolina native gave a stability to the point guard position the Gamecocks’ desperately needed after he battled a flu bug before the Wofford game and a bad a flu bug before the Wofford game and a tough stretch of practices leading up to Sunday.
Defensively he was a big help guarding Rider on the perimeter and settled things down as the Gamecocks put the clamps on late in the second half.
“He’s defending a guy who’s a real good player who’s been around college for a while and he’s out there guarding and not accepting getting beat off the bounce. That’s the thing that’s started to permeate around our team,” “Jacobi’s grown a lot there. His on-ball defense is pretty good.”
It’s a position he’ll potentially be in a lot more moving forward with Jermaine Couisnard tweaking his groin and having the potential to miss some time with it.
Martin mentioned he doesn’t know the severity yet of it but the Gamecocks have a quick turnaround with a trip to Coastal Carolina Wednesday night and Wright could be in line for more minutes, and a start, if Couisnard can’t go.
“I’m really proud of him,” Martin said. “He played like a seasoned veteran today not a kid who’s played five games before today.”
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