What did we learn from USC’s win at Georgia? Keyshawn Bryant is just fine
South Carolina’s 86-80 win over Georgia on Saturday included the following accomplishments:
▪ Frank Martin has moved past Eddie Fogler for the fourth-most wins as USC coach. Martin has 124 victories, five shy of passing Dave Odom for No. 3 on the all-time list.
▪ The Gamecocks have won five consecutive games against UGA, their longest streak since beating the Bulldogs six consecutive times from 1953-56.
▪ USC has three road SEC wins this season. That’s already one more than all of last season.
▪ The Gamecocks shot 68.8 percent from 3-point range, their second-best effort of the Martin era. Their field goal percentage of 56.9 is their best since a 58.7 percent showing in a win over Holy Cross on Nov. 13, 2016.
Here’s more of what we learned as USC (11-10 overall) stayed in the top four of the SEC standings.
Keyshawn Bryant is just fine: Heavy knee brace and all, Bryant was his typical bouncy self against the Bulldogs.
He finished with 11 points, six rebounds, a monster off-the-backboard block — that led to an A.J. Lawson layup — and two steals. This all came two days after missing practice because of a hyper-extended knee.
“He came in (Friday),” Martin said, “and said ‘I’m going to give it a go.’ He got through all of practice with no discomfort.”
Martin said he only saw Bryant limp after the freshman was removed from the game for failing to box out late in the second half.
“He didn’t do it,” Martin said. “So all of a sudden, his knee hurt.”
That mistake aside, Bryant was more explosive than he was against the Volunteers when he was held scoreless for the first time in his career. His dunk at the 6:12 mark put the Gamecocks up six. He had a Euro-step layup in the first half that got USC out to a 9-2 lead.
Shooting cured a big ill: Felipe Haase scored all nine of his points on three 3s in a 1:42 span of the second half. Tre Campbell pulled off a similar feat in the first half.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Gamecocks, where they showed off a rare streaky side to their perimeter shooting. USC needed those treys to combat struggle in another key area.
Georgia scored 21 points off 20 offensive rebounds. The only other USC opponent with 20-plus offensive boards this season (Stony Brook) beat the Gamecocks.
UGA got rebounds off 57 percent of its 14 missed 3s.
“We didn’t box out,” Martin said. “We did a lot of watching. When people shoot 3s, those rebounds are gonna come off. You can watch sometimes when the rebound comes off the rim. When people miss 3s, that rebound’s gonna come long. If you’re watching it, that guy’s beating you to the ball.
“It almost cost us the game. It’s been a problem all year.”
Another bottom-feeder goes down: A win in the SEC — particularly in front of a sellout crowd in February — should never be discounted.
Though of USC’s six victories, half have come against teams — Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri — that entered Saturday last or next-to-last in the league.
The Gamecocks face top league contenders Kentucky and Tennessee in two of their next three games.
Road free throw discrepancy remains eye-opening: What does USC need to do differently to get more whistles away from Colonial Life Arena?
Georgia won the free throw attempts battle, 25-16, Saturday. Over its last three road games — at LSU, Oklahoma State and UGA — Carolina opponents have combined to take 50 more free throws than the Gamecocks.
Next game
Who: South Carolina (11-10, 6-2 SEC) at Kentucky (18-3, 7-1)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky
TV: SEC Network
