Gators chomp slumping Gamecocks
The fight and energy were there. The win wasn’t.
South Carolina lost its third consecutive game and fourth of five, 81-66 to No. 13 Florida, on Tuesday. Nobody was talking moral victories.
The Gamecocks (20-8, 10-5 SEC), sliding down a slippery slope toward the other postseason tournament, had another game get away as they head into the final three games of the regular season.
“Just thought we were playing uphill the whole game,” USC coach Frank Martin said. “Like Sindarius (Thornwell) said, whether we were man or zone or whatever it was, we could not keep the ball in front of us.”
USC let another opponent shoot at least 49 percent against its formerly teeth-bared defense, the Gators erasing their 0-for-17 3-point performance from a loss in Columbia with KeVaughn Allen’s first basket. His 3 to open the game led to 26 points and Florida hit nine from long range, with USC failing to stop penetration dribbles and leaving shooters open.
“We did earlier in the year,” Martin said. “We obviously haven’t done that very well lately.”
With no defense helping a struggling offense, the result against a great team was predictable.
“They made shots,” Thornwell said. “We didn’t.”
It was the same story of the past six games – opponents have figured out USC’s defense, there isn’t a steady offensive option other than Thornwell and rebounding continues to plague the Gamecocks. The Gators (23-5, 13-2) were monstrous on the boards, although they weren’t converting many into points.
With Thornwell picking up two early fouls, USC quickly fell behind by 12. Martin re-inserted his best player and the Gamecocks thrived, scoring the next 12 points. They had a brief lead, only to see a P.J. Dozier turnover become a steal-and-dunk for a two-point Gators lead at the half.
USC was back in the game. Yet the same problems – fouls, turnovers, no rebounding – put it back in a hole to start the second half.
The Gamecocks couldn’t recover from that one. Their offense petered out as quickly as their formerly outstanding 3-point defense. Martin said he loved the mentality of his team, which has steadily progressed since before the Vanderbilt game, and freshman Sedee Keita played the best game of his career with six rebounds in 28 minutes.
Losing at Florida won’t hurt USC in terms of the NCAA Tournament. But it makes the final three games, two of which are at home, as close to must-wins as games can get.
“It’s no different than the three games we played in December or in January,” Martin said. “We’ve just got to go figure out a way to go get a win.”
NOTE: Thornwell tied Jimmy Foster for fifth place on USC’s career scoring chart. BJ McKie, Alex English, John Roche and Devan Downey are above them.
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SOUTH CAROLINA (20-8): Kotsar 2-6 0-0 4, Silva 2-4 4-6 8, Thornwell 6-12 11-11 23, Notice 5-11 4-5 16, Dozier 4-16 0-0 8, Keita 1-3 0-0 2, Gueye 0-0 0-0 0, McKie 1-1 0-0 3, Gravett 0-1 0-0 0, Felder 0-1 0-0 0, Blanton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-56 19-22 66.
FLORIDA (23-5): Leon 3-7 0-0 8, Robinson 5-9 1-1 14, Hayes 3-4 1-2 7, Hill 4-10 2-2 10, Allen 5-7 13-14 26, Stone 1-2 0-0 2, Rimmer 1-3 0-2 2, Chiozza 3-6 5-6 12, Barry 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 22-27 81.
Halftime—Florida 35-33. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 3-14 (Notice 2-6, McKie 1-1, Thornwell 0-1, Gravett 0-1, Felder 0-1, Dozier 0-4), Florida 9-19 (Allen 3-5, Robinson 3-6, Leon 2-4, Chiozza 1-1, Hill 0-1, Barry 0-1, Stone 0-1). Fouled Out—Silva. Rebounds—South Carolina 25 (Thornwell 10), Florida 30 (Allen 7). Assists—South Carolina 8 (Dozier 3), Florida 13 (Chiozza 4). Total Fouls—South Carolina 22, Florida 21.
This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Gators chomp slumping Gamecocks."