South Carolina falls to Illinois State in foul-filled affair
The game was over. Frank Martin had covered his festive island-style garnet shirt with a gray and black windbreaker.
The South Carolina coach, no longer representing the tropical environment this relocated Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament is trying to portray, summed up the Gamecocks’ loss in simple terms.
“All we did was foul,” Martin said.
Illinois State beat USC, 69-65, on Thursday at the HTC Center.
Carolina (2-1) now faces UTEP at 10:30 Friday morning in the consolation round of this eight-team event.
The Gamecocks were whistled for an eye-popping 32 fouls Thursday, leading to the Redbirds’ 28 points from the free throw line.
The overall showing was made uglier via an ice cold shooting performance. USC had little success against ISU’s active 2-3 zone. It finished 18 of 61 from the field (29.5 percent) and 9 of 32 from 3 (28.1 percent).
Carolina hadn’t shot this poorly since last Jan. 18 against Florida, a stretch of 22 games.
“We never got inside the zone,” Martin said. “And when we threw it to 5 feet, our bigs couldn’t score. We got the ball in there, and our bigs couldn’t score.
“Our guards never drove the zone. They just kept passing it around the zone, that’s to (Illinois State’s) advantage.”
ISU (1-1) played just one possession of zone in its 98-87 season-opening loss at Florida Gulf Coast last weekend. Though ISU opened in the 2-3 Thursday, it never planned on sticking to it for 40 minutes.
“But it was working,” said Redbirds coach Dan Muller.
South Carolina, which entered as a 46 percent shooting team, didn’t make its first bucket until the 14:23 mark of the first half. It finished the period down nine points and with seven FGs on 30 attempts.
“They had a wide zone,” said USC point guard Hassani Gravett, who finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists. “I feel like we worked the ball around, we just didn’t attack.”
The Redbirds were more aggressive offensively. Their dribble penetration played to their advantage in a closely officiated game. Malik Yarbrough, who led all scorers with 18 points, finished 14 of 17 from the free throw line.
USC ended the first half with twice as many fouls (15) as field goals. Five Gamecocks began the second half with two fouls. Star forward Chris Silva fouled out with 5:25 left in the game.
Despite all the hurdles, USC had its chances. Down 11 early in the second half, it tied things twice before the 10-minute mark.
A Frank Booker 3 got the Gamecocks to within one with 3:13 left, but the Redbirds responded with a 9-2 run to create enough separation.
“I don’t care what you do defensively,” Martin said, “the object of the game is get the ball between two defenders on offense. On defense, the object of the game is don’t let the ball get between two defenders.
“We never got it between two defenders, they got it between two defenders every time they wanted to. They won.”
Silva had 10 points and six boards. His frontcourt mate – Maik Kotsar (seven points, six rebounds) – also fouled out.
The teams combined for 52 fouls.
ILLINOIS ST. 69, SOUTH CAROLINA 65
ILLINOIS ST. (1-1): Bruninga 1-3 2-2 5, Hein 1-2 0-0 2, Tinsley 2-9 1-2 5, Evans 3-10 8-11 17, Williams 3-8 0-0 7, Fayne 6-11 2-5 14, Yarbrough 2-5 14-17 18, Gassman 0-1 1-2 1, Martin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 28-39 69.
SOUTH CAROLINA (2-1): Minaya 2-9 4-6 9, Silva 0-1 10-14 10, Kotsar 3-6 1-2 7, Gravett 3-13 2-4 10, Booker 3-10 1-2 10, Doumbia 1-1 0-0 2, Haase 2-6 0-0 5, Gueye 0-0 0-0 0, Holden 0-2 0-0 0, Beatty 2-6 2-2 7, Myers 2-7 0-0 5. Totals 18-61 20-30 65.
Halftime—Illinois St. 32-23. 3-Point Goals—Illinois St. 5-16 (Evans 3-6, Williams 1-2, Bruninga 1-3, Hein 0-1, Tinsley 0-4), South Carolina 9-32 (Booker 3-10, Gravett 2-10, Haase 1-1, Beatty 1-2, Myers 1-4, Minaya 1-5). Fouled Out—Silva, Beatty, Kotsar, Bruninga. Rebounds—Illinois St. 36 (Fayne 10), South Carolina 40 (Gravett 9). Assists—Illinois St. 13 (Yarbrough 6), South Carolina 14 (Gravett 5). Total Fouls—Illinois St. 20, South Carolina 32.
This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 1:47 PM with the headline "South Carolina falls to Illinois State in foul-filled affair."