South Carolina’s uninspiring loss to Missouri? Frank Martin saw it coming
Wes Myers tried dumping the basketball into Chris Silva at the elbow. The pass bounced off Silva’s face before it was collected by the junior forward out near the scorer’s table. From there, the 6-foot-9 Silva drove and dished to his frontcourt mate Maik Kotsar for a wing 3-pointer.
Kotsar’s knuckler clanged off the back rim.
This was South Carolina’s first possession of the second half Wednesday evening against Missouri, a scene to help illustrate the ugliness that was the 79-68 loss to the Tigers at Colonial Life Arena.
USC (9-5 overall) is 0-2 in the SEC for the first time since 2015. The Gamecocks struggled to make shots as much as they struggled to defend them as the Tigers (11-3, 1-0) won their first road conference game since Jan. 28, 2014, a span of 32 contests.
CLA, defined by its sparse crowd (announced 9,846) or the play of its home team, was hardly intimidating.
Frank Martin saw it coming. The USC coach told his Gamecocks about it following Tuesday’s practice.
“Practice really (dragged) yesterday,” Martin said. “I told the guys yesterday after practice that outside of my first year here, that’s by far the worst practice I’ve ever been associated with in college basketball.
“And I told them, ‘Here’s the great thing: As miserable as I am today, you’re probably going to go out there and embarrass yourself in front of a lot of people.’
“And that’s exactly what happened.”
Carolina was again plagued by poor point guard play, shooting woes and Silva foul trouble.
Missouri’s production from beyond the arc made the challenge ever greater.
The Tigers, who entered fifth in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage, hit nine treys in the first half. On 3s alone, Mizzou would have been tied with the Gamecocks at halftime. Instead, it led by 12.
The advantage grew to more than 20 in the second half. The Tigers finished with 14 3s, the most by a USC opponent this season. They shot 58 percent from beyond the arc.
Mizzou forwards Jordan Barnett Jontay Porter went a combined 9 of 13 from 3.
“They got bigs that can shoot 3s,” Silva said. “They tried to set ball screens and would pop the big to the 3-point line. … They were making open shots.”
Added Myers: “There were miscommunications, not knowing the personnel.”
Carolina, meanwhile, went two different stretches when it missed five consecutive FG attempts. It went nine of 30 in the first half and finished with a FG percentage of 38.6.
Late in the second half, as Martin fielded a lineup with the likes of Evan Hinson and Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia, the Gamecocks rallied to cut the Mizzou advantage to nine.
Starting point guard Hassani Gravett missed his second straight game with an ankle injury, allowing Myers another chance to run the offense. Myers had 10 points, two assists and two turnovers.
Freshman David Beatty, who also got time at the point, had six points.
Both Myers and Beatty struggled against Mizzou’s pressure in the backcourt. The Gamecocks would routinely begin their offense with half the shot clock already ticked down.
“Our point guards,” Martin said, “they didn’t even want to cross the half-court line.”
Silva led USC with18 points, but he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half.
“As soon as he comes out of the game,” Martin said of Silva, “offensively we become challenged.”
The Gamecocks next host Vanderbilt on Saturday.
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MISSOURI (11-3)
Barnett 6-9 3-3 19, Tilmon 1-2 0-2 2, Puryear 2-6 2-2 6, Geist 3-6 3-5 10, Robertson 6-12 7-8 23, J.Porter 5-9 4-4 19, Nikko 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, VanLeer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 19-24 79.
SOUTH CAROLINA (9-5)
Kotsar 3-8 3-3 9, Minaya 3-7 1-3 8, Silva 4-6 9-10 18, Booker 1-5 3-4 5, Myers 5-11 0-2 10, Gueye 0-0 0-0 0, Haase 2-2 0-0 6, Cudd 1-2 0-0 2, Doumbia 1-4 0-0 2, Beatty 2-11 1-2 6, Hinson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 22-57 19-26 68.
Halftime: Missouri 39-27. 3-Point Goals: Missouri 14-24 (J.Porter 5-7, Barnett 4-6, Robertson 4-8, Geist 1-2, Puryear 0-1), South Carolina 5-18 (Haase 2-2, Silva 1-1, Minaya 1-2, Beatty 1-5, Doumbia 0-1, Kotsar 0-2, Myers 0-2, Booker 0-3). Fouled Out: Myers, J.Porter, Tilmon. Rebounds: Missouri 26 (J.Porter 7), South Carolina 27 (Booker, Silva 5). Assists: Missouri 15 (Geist 6), South Carolina 8 (Kotsar, Minaya, Myers 2). Total Fouls: Missouri 26, South Carolina 22. A: 9,846 (18,000).
This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 11:12 PM with the headline "South Carolina’s uninspiring loss to Missouri? Frank Martin saw it coming."