Gamecocks grind out close win over UMass

Frank Martin yelled out to Hassani Gravett and pointed to a spot on the floor in front of South Carolina’s bench. The Gamecocks, in a dogfight with Massachusetts, needed a timeout.

What transpired ignited USC’s 76-70 win on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena.

Martin was anything but happy following the victory that improved his Gamecocks to 6-2. He blamed himself for what he’s seeing as a “soft team.” He challenged his players and staff to be better after a grind of a week that featured a couple of wins and one 16-point loss to Temple.

But through the frustration, Martin was still able to draw up the perfect play.

The timeout came with 5:44 remaining in the second half. Carolina was clinging to a 58-56 lead.

Martin’s first move was to put Chris Silva (four fouls) and Maik Kotsar (four fouls) back in the game.

“I coach to win games,” Martin said. “I make decisions that, hopefully, impact our team in a way that helps win the game that we’re playing.”

Martin’s next move was to identify the UMass defense. The Minutemen, playing man the majority of the second half, showed zone out of their huddle.

“Coach saw the defense,” Silva said, “and he thought the right play to call was the alley-oop.”

Gravett took the inbounds pass and patiently waited for things to develop. The clock ticked to 5:32 when Silva, who emerged from the baseline, threw down Gravett’s flawless lob.

“I watched the backside defender, I saw him raise too high, and I saw the screen,” Gravett said. “Perfect opportunity to lob it up to my guy.”

The slam put some life in the announced crowd of 10,382. CLA was lifted even more on USC’s next possession when Silva, following a steal, dunked again.

“Right when the dunk happened,” Gravett said, “I could feel the whole crowd roaring. And then to come back down and get another one right after, it is amazing.”

Silva finished with 14 points, and Gravett added 14 and four assists as USC held off the Minutemen (3-5).

Silva’s slams put the Gamecocks ahead by 6. The lead grew to as many as 7 down the stretch before UMass rallied late to make it 72-70 with 20 seconds remaining.

Gravett responded with four free throws to cement the final score.

“I just tried to lock in, and I dialed in and hit them,” said the junior point guard.

Despite Gravett’s clutch makes, USC finished 17 of 29 from the free throw line (58.6 percent). The Gamecocks were just 3 of 15 from beyond the 3-point line (20 percent).

Aside from Silva’s highlights, the performance was hardly a thing of beauty.

“We have not played worth a crap this week,” Martin said. “And that’s my job – to get us to play the right way.”

The Minutemen, who got a game-high 25 points from Luwane Pipkins, erased an early 12-point deficit to lead by 1 at halftime. They were up 5 with 13:24 to play.

“I thought our guys were prepared,” said UMass coach Matt McCall. “I thought our guys were excited, I thought our guys were engaged, I thought they were ready to play.”

Freshman Justin Minaya led the Gamecocks with 17 points. Gravett-to-Silva, though, was the game-changer.

“Maybe (Martin) changed the call there when he saw zone,” McCall said. “That was a great lob play. Obviously, that kind of got the crowd into it at that point of the game, and it was hard to recover.”

USC next hosts Wyoming on Wednesday.

This story was originally published December 2, 2017 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Gamecocks grind out close win over UMass."