Frank Martin lays out South Carolina’s path to postseason play. It’s pretty simple
If Alabama can take Tennessee to the wire in Knoxville, the Crimson Tide is more than capable of winning at Colonial Life Arena. Forward Donta Hall is a force on the glass. Swingman and Columbia native Tevin Mack has the ability to shoot himself into a hot streak from 3-point range. Guard Kira Lews is one of the top freshman scorers in the SEC.
All of the above is likely mentioned by Frank Martin before South Carolina’s game with Alabama. What the USC coach won’t bring up is the potential impact of Tuesday’s result on the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament chances.
“I try to give guys perspective of where we’re at instead of speaking about these as play-in games,” Martin said during a Monday news conference. “That’s me putting undue pressure on our players.”
USC (14-13, 9-5 SEC) and ‘Bama (16-11, 7-7) are set for a 7 p.m. Tuesday tip at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks enter as the No. 4 seed for next month’s SEC Tournament. The Tide enters as the No. 9.
It’s only here where Martin is using a postseason scenario as locker room dialogue.
“I give them perspective,” Martin said. “We’re in fourth place. If the thing started today, we’re the four-seed in the SEC (tournament). There’s a lot of people who want to be the four-seed with four games to go.”
The No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament has made the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons — LSU in 2015, USC in 2017 and Kentucky in 2018. South Carolina, though, has little margin for error. The Gamecocks debuted Friday as one of the last eight teams out of the tournament field Joe Lunardi posted to ESPN.com. They lost at 20-win Mississippi State a day later.
After Tuesday, USC travels to Missouri (12-14, 3-11) on Saturday, Texas A&M (12-14, 5-9) on March 5 and then hosts Georgia (10-17, 1-13) for Senior Day on March 9.
KenPom.com gives South Carolina at least a 38 percent chance to win each of its remaining games.
“We’re in a pretty good place right now,” Martin said, “but we gotta win. It’s as simple as that.”
Mississippi State coach Ben Howland followed Ole Miss’ Kermit Davis on Saturday in calling the Gamecocks an NCAA Tournament-caliber team.
The Big Dance’s selection committee doesn’t recognize wins over non-Division I foes, meaning USC, which beat D-II’s North Greenville on Dec. 31, is 13-13 in their eyes. A 4-0 regular season finish followed by at least one win in the SEC Tournament would get the Gamecocks to four games over .500.
That was enough for Vanderbilt and Alabama to receive NCAA Tournament bids the last two years.
“It’s not a fluke right now,” Martin said. “We’re not 9-5, in fourth place in the SEC because we had a couple breaks go our way. You could have said that after the first two games or three games when we won at Vanderbilt and Florida, whatever. ‘OK, they got lucky at end of games a little bit.’ We’ve obviously sustained that.
“But we gotta do it for four more games, and that’ll determine who we are. But I think our team’s gotten a lot better.”
Game info
Who: Alabama (16-11, 7-7 SEC) at South Carolina (14-13, 9-5 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 107.5 FM The Game in Columbia area
Series: Alabama leads 29-16
Last meeting: Jan. 9, 2018, in Tuscaloosa— Alabama 76, South Carolina 62
Streak: Alabama’s won three straight
KenPom prediction: South Carolina 76, Alabama 74
