Can USC figure out how to stop nemesis J.J. Frazier?

That guy again.

He’s so much a factor that when asked about him, Frank Martin shook his head and asked if he could instead keep talking about the six-game suspension to his star player. He’s been such a thorn in South Carolina’s side, bottom, top and other side the past two years that he was the guy asked about instead of SEC Player of the Week Yante Maten, who scored 31 points in Georgia’s SEC-opening win over Auburn last week.

J.J. Frazier.

One more time.

“He’s got unbelievable courage. He’s got an unbelievable demeanor, unbelievable confidence,” Martin said. “Last year, we tried guarding him three different ways. And in two of the three games, it worked pretty good, until there was like, two minutes left to go in the game. Then all of a sudden he just said, ‘No, we’re not losing.’ ”

Frazier was the catalyst for the Bulldogs’ three wins over USC this past year, the last in the SEC tournament which was another reason why the Gamecocks didn’t impress the NCAA tournament selection committee. All together, he’s led Georgia to four straight wins over USC, including two in the SEC tournament.

It seems no coincidence that the last time he didn’t play against the Gamecocks was the last time the Gamecocks won.

“J.J. loves to play every game. I don’t think he circles this one,” Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. “We’ve been fortunate he’s made some plays in those games.”

Boy, has he. Again and again and again.

Frazier hit a 25-footer in the 2015 tournament, over three leaping defenders, on a possession where Georgia had to call two timeouts. He swished two 3-pointers to extend a Georgia lead when USC cut it to four last February. He scored 13 points in the final three minutes to ruin Senior Night in March.

Then the next week, he dribbled through five USC defenders to tie the game, knocked the ball loose on the next possession and made the game-winning free throw with 2.1 seconds to go. Conveniently, the guy he was fouled by after that steal is the same guy that was just cleared from suspension after the Gamecocks went 3-3 in his absence.

“The approach is to win the game,” said Sindarius Thornwell, the Gamecocks’ ace who returned from suspension on Monday. “It didn’t matter who it was or who it’s with, just happy to be back battling with my team and trying to get some wins.”

Thornwell’s absence hurt the Gamecocks but the SEC season can easily overcome it. The 18-game gauntlet begins Wednesday night with USC trying to match something it’s only done once in 25 years – post back-to-back winning league seasons.

Thornwell said in the preseason that he and Frazier are buddies, and he was looking forward to the two games against Georgia this year. There’d be no better way to show he was back than by leading USC to a win against a team that’s had its number lately.

Thornwell or not, it was never going to be easy. USC has been a voodoo doll to Frazier’s pins the last four games.

Martin compared him to former Kansas State guard Denis Clemente. In USC layman terms, that’s Devan Downey.

Frazier is The Guy That Finds A Way.

“That he just knew the bigger the moment, the better he was going to play,” Martin said. “We have to figure out a way to not allow those moments to take place.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Can USC figure out how to stop nemesis J.J. Frazier?."