‘One of those ugly wins.’ USC survives Coastal Carolina

Hassani Gravett on Saturday gave the South Carolina Gamecocks an 80-78 win over Coastal Carolina with a short hanging jumper and ensuing free throw with six seconds remaining.

But it’s what the point guard did following his heroics that USC coach Frank Martin wanted to note in his post-game press conference.

Gravett didn’t “listen on defense” as the Chanticleers got a clean look for 3 and a tip-in attempt before the final buzzer.

“Good for him, helped us win the game,” Martin said, “but he’s got a lot of growing up to do, a lot of growing up to do. We got to figure out how to get him to be more consistent in his approach, with his focus.”

Welcome to South Carolina basketball in December 2017, where Martin isn’t peeping the scoreboard to judge his team’s progress.

“We’re gonna get our team right,” Martin said. “If we lose, we lose. If we’re tired, we’re tried. We’re gonna learn to listen, we’re gonna learn to be disciplined and we’re gonna learn to care.

“And that’s our focus right now. We’re not there.”

Such a statement echoes Martin’s message since the Gamecocks (8-2) lost to Temple on Nov. 30. Piling victories – USC’s won three in a row – isn’t his No. 1 priority at the moment. Rather, the sixth-year coach wants his young team to start showing signs of improvement.

“I screwed it up a couple weeks ago,” Martin said. “I told you I was gonna fix it. And we’ll fix it.”

Coastal, a 15-point underdog, took a 63-62 lead with 12:11 remaining and didn’t trail again until Gravett’s late bucket. The Chants (5-5) hit 10 3-pointers and made 46 percent of their shots.

South Carolina lost the points in the paint battle for just the third time this season.

“It was a good win,” said senior guard Frank Booker, who led USC with 19 points, “but we know we can play better. We’ll take this win as one of those ugly wins.

“Costal Carolina’s a good team. They played hard. We just made one more basket than they did.”

After Gravett’s free throw, Coastal’s Jaylen Shaw, a USC transfer, hurried up the floor. He launched from the top of the key with one second left. When the shot rimmed out, Demario Beck was there for the close put-back. His attempt barely missed, allowing the Gamecocks to escape before a live crowd of 11,734.

“I just saw a chance to win the game,” said Shaw, who scored 17 points in his return to Colonial Life Arena. “I was wide-open. I took the shot. My teammates and my coaches want me to take that shot every time. I’m wide-open, I got to shoot that one.”

Beck’s offensive rebound was Coastal’s 13th of the afternoon. That’s the most by a USC opponent this season.

Chris Silva led the Gamecocks with nine boards. The junior forward added 15 points and only fouled once.

Gravett finished with nine points and four assists. His winning shot came after he missed a crucial free throw and threw an errant pass in crunch time.

“I just had to do whatever Coach asked of me and fight to get the ball back,” Gravett said. “We were able to win it back. And then when we came down, he called a play and I just tried to execute it. I saw I had an open drive and I drove the ball.”

South Carolina now breaks for final exams. It’ll next play Dec. 19 at Clemson.

“I don’t care right now about the score of games,” Martin said. “I don’t care whether we’re tired or not tired. We’re gonna learn to do things the right way. And that’s not gonna stop.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 2:02 PM with the headline "‘One of those ugly wins.’ USC survives Coastal Carolina."