Frank Martin takes a stand for how Dawn Staley handled Missouri fallout

On Dec. 19, the South Carolina Gamecocks men’s basketball team played a game at Clemson in which the Tigers weren’t whistled for a foul after the 10:14 mark of the second half. USC also didn’t take a free throw over the game’s final 20 minutes at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Coach Frank Martin made note of these things immediately following Carolina’s 64-48 loss.

It’s part of the reason why he admired Dawn Staley’s reaction on Sunday after her Gamecocks lost to Missouri. The 83-74 defeat included Staley’s ejection and star player A’ja Wilson fouling out.

“I’m not gonna speak on Dawn’s situation because that will probably get me in trouble,” Martin said Monday during a press conference at Colonial Life Arena. “I think Dawn handled herself a lot better than I would have in the same moment.

“We just went to Clemson ... if I told you we played (10) minutes in the second half and no one fouled our team, would you believe it? That’s what happened at Clemson. They called the last foul at Clemson with (10) minutes to go in the game. I don’t understand.

“I’m going to leave Dawn’s alone because I’m just telling you, if I was in her shoes, I’d be in a lot of trouble this morning. She handled herself like she always does, with unbelievable class in a very, very difficult situation.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Frank Martin takes a stand for how Dawn Staley handled Missouri fallout."