The number to remember this season for USC basketball

Maik Kotsar hit a layup, Chris Silva drilled a 3-pointer and Hassani Gravett popped a mid-range jumper.

The South Carolina basketball team, less than two minutes into its Friday game against UTEP, hardly resembled the Gamecocks from 24 hours earlier. And Frank Martin, dressed in a resort-style white shirt and garnet pants, looked like a genius.

“It makes the coach look a lot smarter than he is when you’re making shots,” Martin said. “And when you miss shots, it makes us look a lot dumber than we are.”

USC (3-1) will face Western Michigan (2-2) at 2 p.m. Sunday in the fifth place game of this relocated Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament.

The Gamecocks split their first two contests at the HTC Center. A putrid offensive performance led to a 69-65 loss to Illinois State on Thursday. Significant improvement in that area spurred an 80-56 rout of the Miners on Friday.

The 2017-18 season is just over a week old, but these Gamecocks – eight new players and all – are showing subtle signs of the past that could help in analyzing their future.

Carolina in 2016-17 never lost when shooting 45 percent or better from the field. It went 13-0 when hitting such a benchmark, including a 49.1 percent performance in the 77-70 win over Florida that sent the program to its first Final Four.

Eight months and four games later, the Gamecocks are getting familiar results. USC shot 46.3 percent in the win over Wofford, 45.6 percent in the win over WMU and 46.6 percent in the rolling of UTEP.

But it turned in an ugly 29.5 percent against the Redbirds.

Carolina last season went 13-11 when failing to reach 45 percent from the floor, including a 25 of 66 showing (37.9) in the narrow loss to Gonzaga in a national semifinal.

Martin has remained firm in calling his current bunch the best shooting team he’s had in his decade as head coach. That much showed again Friday as USC hit seven of its first 10 attempts and 13 of its first 17.

“What happened today to start the game?,” Martin said. “Justin Minaya open (whistling sound), in the basket. Chris open (whistling sound), in the basket. Hassani, open (whistling sound), in the basket.

“Not only were we geeked up and ready to go, it lifted our spirits. Yesterday, it was open clank, open clank, open clank. Sometimes you make shots and it makes you a better offensive (team).”

Minaya finished with a career-high 14 points. The freshman wing made three of his five 3-point attempts. He entered as an 18 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

“Justin makes 3s for us,” Martin said. “He does it in practice.

“It’s easy to tell who can shoot it and who can’t when you watch them shoot. Sit there and watch. The ball comes off his hand clean. His technique is good. It’s always there. As he gets older and continues to understand, that ball will go in there for him more consistently.”

Silva as a junior has already made more 3s (two) than he attempted in his previous two seasons (one). Maik Kotsar, Silva’s frontcourt mate, hit his first 3 in 41 college games Friday. Six-foot-9 freshman Felipe Haase is five of 10 from downtown this season.

“Chris has been making his,” Martin said. “Felipe can shoot the ball. We have some flexibility with what we can do this year because of those things.

“So now people are going to have to come guard (Kotsar) out on the 3-point line. He’s pretty good off the dribble. I’m trying to figure him out where I can put him in actions so he can be even more aggressive offensively.”

Don’t let the shooting praise foul you, though. Defense is still Martin’s baby.

UTEP coach Tim Floyd acknowledged that side of Carolina’s game before applauding the Gamecocks’ offensive efficiency.

“They just paralyzed us with their pressure,” Floyd said, “which they do to most teams.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 11:51 AM with the headline "The number to remember this season for USC basketball."