Gamecocks defense batters, bruises Bulldogs in dominant road victory
South Carolina’s men’s basketball team had already done a number on Georgia Wednesday night. The Gamecocks pressure defense had the Bulldogs out of sorts, allowing a total of five points in the opening 11 minutes, forcing a timeout from coach Tom Crean to try to get things in place.
After the timeout, Frank Martin’s USC squad came out with extended pressure and four more empty UGA possessions followed. It was just the sort of night where there wasn’t much let-up.
When the damage was done, the underdog Gamecocks had taken their 75-59 win by force. The Bulldogs had nearly matched their season average in turnovers (14.9) with 11 by halftime.
South Carolina finished with 19 takeaways.
“When you play with effort, toughness and discipline, your team usually gets rewarded,” Martin said.
The game had a take-no-prisoners kind of pace, plenty of contact, a fair share of whistles and more than a few collisions that earned a “play on.”
The Gamecocks (15-9, 7-4 SEC) saw their offense click enough early to ring up 38 points in the first 20 minutes. They shot 47 percent and got seven players on the board, five with at least two field goals. South Carolina also delivered at least four emphatic dunks to spice things up.
Four USC players finished in double figures, led by A.J. Lawson’s 20.
On the other side, the Bulldogs (12-12, 2-9) connected on 24 percent of their shots before halftime, with future NBA lottery pick Anthony Edwards contributing one basket on seven attempts. Gamecocks redshirt freshman Jermaine Couisnard got that assignment and more than held his own as Edwards finished with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
The lead never fell to fewer than 15 points after halftime.
“They just outplayed us, in every aspect of the game,” Edwards said.
Asked about Couisnard’s effort against Edwards, the coach was quick to say his second-year guard still makes plenty of errors on that side of the ball. But is grit and sheer aggressiveness to get to the ball makes up for a lot of that.
The victory was South Carolina’s sixth on an opponent’s floor this season. The Gamecocks were facing a team that had blown leads of 12 or more — two of 20 or more — in the past four games, but a big lead to blow was the least of Georgia’s worries.
It was also South Carolina’s seventh consecutive win in the series. That last UGA victory came in the 2016 SEC tournament, part of a Bulldogs season sweep that kept the Gamecocks out of that year’s NCAA tournament.
South Carolina will have a chance Saturday to avenge a one-point loss at Tennessee. The Gamecocks project to be favorites, though often slight ones, in four of the final seven games as they try to boost their currently slim NCAA hopes.
But the players aren’t looking ahead to all that.
“We just really think about the next game,” Couisnard said.
NEXT
What: Tennessee at South Carolina
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
South Carolina-Georgia basketball box score
SOUTH CAROLINA (15-9): Bryant 4-5 4-4 12, Frink 1-1 1-4 3, Kotsar 5-12 1-2 11, Couisnard 5-13 1-1 14, Lawson 7-10 4-5 20, McCreary 4-8 0-3 8, Hannibal 2-7 0-0 4, Bolden 1-6 0-0 3, Moss 0-1 0-0 0, Leveque 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-65 11-19 75.
GEORGIA (12-12): Camara 0-4 0-0 0, Hammonds 2-6 1-4 5, Edwards 4-13 8-8 16, Harris 4-6 2-2 10, Wheeler 1-6 2-4 4, Crump 2-5 2-2 8, Fagan 2-6 2-2 6, Gresham 2-3 3-4 8, Peake 0-1 0-0 0, Howard 1-1 0-0 2, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Etter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 20-26 59.
Halftime—South Carolina 38-20. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 6-17 (Couisnard 3-6, Lawson 2-4, Bolden 1-4, Anderson 0-1, Hannibal 0-1, Moss 0-1), Georgia 3-24 (Crump 2-4, Gresham 1-2, Brown 0-1, Camara 0-1, Peake 0-1, Fagan 0-2, Hammonds 0-2, Harris 0-2, Wheeler 0-2, Edwards 0-7). Rebounds—South Carolina 41 (Frink 9), Georgia 31 (Howard 6). Assists—South Carolina 17 (Couisnard 4), Georgia 9 (Hammonds, Wheeler, Peake 2). Total Fouls—South Carolina 20, Georgia 16.
