Gamecocks back in Top 25 for first time since 2004
South Carolina plays St. John’s on Tuesday.
Sorry.
No. 25 South Carolina plays St. John’s on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks, who haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1973 and haven’t appeared in the tournament since 2004, are in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since that last tournament berth. USC finished 23rd after a first-round exit that year, and since then it’s been a long march across the desert.
It’s been part of the misery that’s surrounded Gamecock basketball over the years. As soon as they started to take one step forward, they’d take four back. Last season, USC received votes in the Top 25 after winning seven straight to end the nonconference season. The Gamecocks dropped six of their next seven.
With that in mind, and also never one to trumpet success mid-year, coach Frank Martin approached Monday’s ranking the way he has each of USC’s 10 wins.
“I’m happy for our guys, I’m happy for our fans,” Martin said in a video interview from Connecticut, where USC is set to take on St. John’s (7-5). “That doesn’t alleviate the toughness, to go win No. 11 against St. John’s. We’d rather have it than not, but it doesn’t make the difficulty of overcoming another opponent any easier.”
The Gamecocks are ranked in the AP and coaches’ polls and on paper, the Red Storm shouldn’t threaten them. In their first year under program legend Chris Mullin, St. John’s upset Syracuse.
The Storm were also blown out at home by Incarnate Word, a team transitioning to Division I, and lost a second straight home game to New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Informed of that after the Clemson game, Martin only said, “Wow. Imagine basketball.”
Martin knew how close the Gamecocks came to letting their 10th win slip away. A first-half domination dissolved into a timid second. As the Tigers switched from their usual man-to-man to zone and let shot-blockers Landry Nnoko and Sidy Djitte set up in the paint, USC’s attacks to the rim were shut down. When the Gamecocks’ 3-point shooting went south as well, a 20-point lead was down to four.
USC won, its defense contesting shots and collecting key rebounds that led to game-clinching free throws. That was the positive.
The negative was the Gamecocks aren’t at the point where they can show up and automatically win. That turns into another positive – it keeps them hungry.
“It’s just about winning, every single time,” Michael Carrera said. “Just do our job and do whatever coach says.”
Martin was also informed that USC hasn’t been 10-0 in over 80 years. He shook his head, reflected on his pride in his team, but stuck to the same line – it doesn’t mean a thing yet.
“Still, regardless, we can figure out a way to win No. 11 and being 10-0 helps us do that. I tell you what it does, it picks the guys’ spirits up,” he said. “If we had to go up to St. John’s after having a 20-point lead and then losing, it deflates you a little bit.”
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St. John’s (7-5) vs. No. 25 USC (10-0)
When: 9 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Tickets: Available at the box office
St. John’s probable starters: G Federico Mussini 6-1 Fr. (14.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg); G Durand Johnson 6-6 Sr. (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg); F Christian Jones 6-7 Jr. (8.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg); F Ron Mvouika 6-6 Sr. (9.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg); C Yankuba Sima 6-11 Fr. (8.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
South Carolina’s probable starters: G P.J. Dozier 6-6 Fr. (8.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg); G Sindarius Thornwell 6-5 Jr. (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg); F Mindaugas Kacinas 6-7 Sr. (13.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg); F Michael Carrera 6-5 Sr. (12.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg); C Laimonas Chatkevicius 6-11 Sr. (12.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
Next game: The Gamecocks host Francis Marion at 7 p.m. on Dec. 30.
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Gamecocks back in Top 25 for first time since 2004."