What we learned from South Carolina’s win over Kentucky

Though they booed the announcement, South Carolina students obeyed the demands of the Colonial Life Arena PA man and did indeed stay off the court Tuesday evening following the Gamecocks’ 76-68 upset of No. 18 Kentucky.

No need to over-emphasize the victory. Frank Martin’s not.

“Just like a week ago (when) I didn’t quit on our team like everyone else in this room had quit on our team,” Martin said, “I’m not gonna celebrate because we still got a whole lot of games to play.

“I don’t mean to be a grouch. I don’t mean to not tell you beating Kentucky at home, given the circumstances, being down and coming back … I’m around these guys every day. I’m not gonna overreact to a game.”

USC (12-6, 3-3 SEC) broke a four-game losing streak to UK (14-4, 4-2). The Gamecocks also beat a ranked opponent in the regular season for the first time Jan. 18, 2017.

Quite the swift switch in narrative for a bunch that is not far removed from double-digit losses to Alabama and Missouri.

But Martin’s tempered reaction is also related to what’s next. South Carolina hosts No. 21 Tennessee on Saturday, then travels to Florida on Jan. 24 and then gets No. 8 Texas Tech at CLA on Jan. 27.

“Our guys took ownership today,” Martin said. “Now, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna build on that? Are we gonna be better in practice Thursday? We got 21st ranked Tennessee coming in the building Saturday, who plays as hard as any team in the country and they’re experienced as any team in the country. It’s going to be hard. What’s going to happen when that game gets hard? Are we gonna continue that leadership? Or we gonna get quiet again?

“There’s a lot of unknown right now with our team. I like our team. I got no problem with our guys. Our guys are great, they’re fun to coach. But we gotta grow up.”

Some more takeaways from the UK win:

Time to stop judging USC on its field goal percentage

After Tuesday’s performance, South Carolina has failed to shoot 40 percent or better from the field in eight straight games. The Gamecocks remain last in the SEC in field goal percentage (40.8). They had a stretch against the Wildcats when they missed 15 shots in a row.

“That’s why we work on rebounding and defense,” Martin said.

Chris Silva called it “South Carolina basketball” following the Georgia win. Such an identity showed up again Tuesday.

The Gamecocks limited UK to a season-low one 3-pointer (on 11 attempts) and held it to a season-low six offensive rebounds. The Wildcats didn’t make a FG over the final 6:12.

“That’s what keeps you in games,” Martin said.

USC is now up to 14th nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency rankings. It has won the rebounding battle in six of the past seven games.

Last season, en route to a school-record 26 wins and a Final Four appearance, it was next to last in the SEC in FG percentage (42.0), but finished third in the national defensive efficiency ratings and won the rebounding battle 62 percent of the time.

A breakout of sorts for Maik Kotsar

It took 12 seconds Tuesday for Maik Kotsar to do something he hadn’t done in nearly a month. He recorded a steal.

And when he finished that steal with a dunk, sending CLA into its first of several frenzies throughout the evening, it was a hint the Maik Kotsar of the recent past wasn’t going to show up again.

Chris Silva was Carolina’s star, sure, but Kotsar brought the necessary energy. He finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. The sophomore came in averaging 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in SEC play. He went 1 of 10 from the field at Georgia. He hadn’t made a steal since the Clemson loss Dec. 19.

“We have pride in our defense,” Frank Booker said. “The new guys coming in, we’re still figuring it out, but we’re starting to get it. Maik and Chris, the guys that have been here, they know the defense.

“He got that steal and got the easy lay-in. The crowd went live, we were live and it brought more life to the situation. ‘Hey, we got this. Let’s go.’”

Added faces continue to help Gamecocks

Keeping with a recent team theme, Booker gave another shout-out to USC practice following a win.

As has been well-documented, the Gamecocks have added both Brian Bowen and Rakym Felder into the practice fold. Former USC player Duane Notice even joined the squad for recent sessions.

“They came into practice and they made practice fun and tough like it should be,” Booker said. “They made practice harder than the game, so that when we get to the game, the game is just muscle memory. They don’t get enough credit, so I’m giving them all the credit for the win tonight because of the way they really helped us during practice.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 12:11 PM with the headline "What we learned from South Carolina’s win over Kentucky."