Clemson hangs on to top Gamecocks for third straight year
Frank Martin nearly threw his arm out of socket he punched the air so hard. “Sandstorm” blared from the Colonial Life Arena speakers. Gamecock Jesus danced on the videoboard.
This was South Carolina basketball at its peak in 2018-19. The Gamecocks had their archrivals on the ropes, and everyone from their coach to their in-house deejay to their most famous fan was feeling it.
Saturday’s 78-68 loss to Clemson on Saturday confirmed the Gamecocks have some fight in them. An A.J. Lawson pass and Keyshawn Bryant dunk was what sparked the above scenes.
“It was fun to watch us in that stretch,” Martin said, “because it was probably the best stretch of basketball we’ve played this year. And then we just weren’t quite good enough to close the game.”
Lawson and Bryant, a pair of promising rookies on a team crushed by injury, connected on the electric play that had CLA rocking. It cut Clemson’s advantage to six points with 8:22 left. The deficit, as high as 16 in the second half, was whittled down to five three times after that.
But the Tigers (9-3) held on down the stretch to collect their third straight win in this series. USC (4-7) has lost four consecutive games.
Clemson’s experience eventually outweighed USC’s youth.
Of the Tigers’ five double-digit scorers, four were seniors. Marcquise Reed had a game-high 20 points, including a jumper with 1:41 left to increase the advantage to seven.
“We were able to get out of here with a very hard-fought win against a team that’s always hard to play against,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell.
Reed, a fifth-year senior, returned from a knee injury to give himself 45 points over his past two matchups with the Gamecocks. He didn’t start, but he gave the Tigers an obvious spark.
“I thought the difference in the game was Marcquise Reed uplifted the spirit of their basketball team,” Martin said.
Clemson shot an eye-popping 62 percent in the first half. After Chris Silva completed a three-point play with 5:09 left to give the Gamecocks a one-point lead, the Tigers went on a 16-4 run to close the opening period up 11.
The Tigers shot 57 percent for the game. USC shot 37 percent. It missed 12 of its 16 3-point tries.
“We were fortunate they didn’t shoot the ball very well from 3 tonight,” Brownell said.
THREE POINTS
Star of the game: Chris Silva scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven boards for USC. He took a season-high 13 free throws.
Play of the game: Silva has spent a good portion of his career dunking on his defenders. But the senior now knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a posterization.
Clemson’s 6-5 John Newmann threw down on USC’s big man in the first half.
Stat of the game: Clemson took 14 shots over a four-minute stretch in the first half. The Tigers made 12 of them.
OBSERVATIONS
Reed plays: Brownell on Thursday told reporters that his senior guard had an “outside chance” at playing Saturday.
Reed, appearing for the first time since Dec. 4, checked in at the 16:44 mark of the first half. A clunky knee brace had little impact on his game. He scored 13 points over his first 13 minutes.
Reed dropped 25 on the Gamecocks last season.
Crowd watch: A second straight ACC opponent produced another quality crowd at CLA.
Though pockets of orange were hard to miss among the 12,269.
Cudd sighting: South Carolina, again playing without Maik Kotsar, T.J. Moss, Justin Minaya and Jermaine Couisnard, went to a rare option Saturday.
Sophomore center Jason Cudd got three minutes of run in the first half. It was the 7-footer’s first appearance in six games.
Injury report: Martin said Kotsar (concussion) could be back by the North Greenville game on Dec. 31, while Moss (high ankle sprain) and Minaya (knee injury) still don’t have definite timetables.
Martin said it’s “wishful thinking” for a Minaya return by the Jan. 5 SEC opener at Florida.
Next game
Who: North Greenville at South Carolina
When: 2 p.m. Dec. 31
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network-Plus
Box score
CLEMSON 78, SOUTH CAROLINA 68
CLEMSON (9-3)Simms 2-3 0-0 5, Skara 4-8 4-4 14, Thomas 2-2 7-11 11, Mitchell 4-9 2-3 11, Trapp 4-7 0-0 10, Tyson 0-0 0-0 0, White 1-3 0-1 2, Jemison 0-0 0-0 0, Newman 2-2 0-0 5, Reed 7-12 5-6 20. Totals 26-46 18-25 78.
SOUTH CAROLINA (4-7) Silva 4-8 10-13 18, Haase 2-5 2-2 6, Bryant 4-11 2-3 10, Campbell 1-5 0-0 2, Lawson 2-15 2-4 8, Frink 3-7 2-5 8, Cudd 0-0 0-0 0, Gravett 6-11 0-0 14, Hinson 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 23-63 18-28 68.
Halftime: Clemson 45-34. 3-Point Goals_Clemson 8-20 (Skara 2-5, Trapp 2-5, Newman 1-1, Simms 1-1, Reed 1-3, Mitchell 1-5), South Carolina 4-16 (Gravett 2-5, Lawson 2-5, Silva 0-1, Haase 0-1, Bryant 0-1, Campbell 0-3). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Clemson 35 (Skara 8), South Carolina 31 (Silva, Lawson, Frink 7). Assists: Clemson 10 (Reed 4), South Carolina 11 (Lawson 4). Total Fouls: Clemson 25, South Carolina 21. A: 12,269 (18,000).
This story was originally published December 22, 2018 at 4:08 PM.
