South Carolina runs past Cleveland State for another rout, remains undefeated
The South Carolina of smothering defensive form showed up for its two wins. The South Carolina filled with energy and pace showed up for its third.
The Gamecocks on Friday remained undefeated with a 90-63 rout of Cleveland State. The result means USC is 3-0 for the first time in three years. But the way it happened might mean more.
This performance wasn’t so much for a complete defensive effort — like it was in previous whippings of North Alabama and Wyoming — but rather for an exhausting series of end-to-end action.
Frank Martin teased in the preseason that this team could be the fastest, deepest and most athletic of his eight years in Columbia. A bit of that showed up Friday.
“This team can play really fast,” Martin said. “Has the opportunity — because of depth — to play really fast.”
The sequence that perhaps best plays to the above quote happened midway through the second half when Trae Hannibal’s chase-down block of Hugo Ferreira was followed by another block by Wildens Leveque. Hannibal then collected the loose ball, sprinted the other way and finished in traffic to cap Carolina’s game-changing 22-4 run.
Leveque and Hannibal are both freshmen, a couple guys who currently sit anywhere from eighth to 10th in Martin’s rotation.
“Our team’s very deep,” said sophomore guard A.J. Lawson. “I think once we all get into into the groove of understanding the plays and the concepts and everyone’s good to go, I feel like we’ll be a great team.
“That sequence with the blocks is something I see in practice every day.”
South Carolina finished with 29 takeaways, had five blocks and grabbed 26 offensive rebounds. The 90 points are a season-high. Lawson’s 28 points are a career-high.
Ten different Gamecocks scored. Thirteen had rebounds. And if floor-dives were tallied, probably every Gamecock who played had at least one. Senior Maik Kotsar epitomized the hustle with five points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Alanzo Frink added 11 points and 10 boards.
“That’s something we have to do every game,” Kotsar said. “Every minute we got to dive on the ball, on the floor, take charges. We’ve got to be that scrappy team.”
It was complete domination that eventually arrived after a brief scare toward the end of the first half. South Carolina went cold over the period’s final three minutes, allowing Cleveland State (1-3) to whittle a 17 point lead down to five. The Vikings shot 56% percent in the first half, a surprise considering the Gamecocks had held their first two opponents to under 25%.
CSU was held to 23% shooting and 23 points in the second half.
“Frank talked to us at halftime,” Kotsar said with a grin. “But actually we just realized that they weren’t giving up. They were a good team. They were a team that hustled. And Frank conveyed that to us, that we got to go there, fight and take it ourselves. And it’s not given.”
And one
Leveque’s second game as a college player was his best. The 6-foot-11 rookie was a spark-plug, finishing with 12 points in 11 minutes.
Personal foul
Justin Minaya, South Carolina’s most consistent player through two games, struggled offensively. He didn’t score and missed all nine of his field goal attempts.
“He wasn’t mentally there,” Martin said. “He’s as rock-solid and as always prepared with enthusiasm and energy. He didn’t say a word the whole game. So there might be something going on. I have no idea. But he wasn’t an engaged.”
Tip-in
Freshman walk-on Mike Green scored his first career college points on “and-1” layup with 2:41 left.
NEXT
Who: Boston University at South Carolina
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network Plus via the WatchESPN app
Box score
CLEVELAND ST. (1-3): Eichelberger 5-12 2-2 13, D.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Gomillion 6-11 6-7 18, Penn 1-3 2-2 4, Sanchez 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 3-4 0-1 6, Eskandari 0-1 0-0 0, Patton 2-3 0-0 4, Rego 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-1 4-5 4, Beaudion 0-2 2-4 2, Potoma 2-5 2-2 7, Ferreira 0-3 3-4 3. Totals 20-48 21-27 63.
SOUTH CAROLINA (3-0): Frink 5-12 1-3 11, Minaya 1-8 0-0 2, Kotsar 2-7 1-3 5, Bolden 5-6 0-0 12, Lawson 6-12 12-13 26, Anderson 1-4 0-0 2, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, McCreary 0-3 0-2 0, Henry 0-0 1-3 1, Leveque 4-4 4-6 12, Moss 2-6 0-0 6, Green 1-3 1-1 3, Couisnard 3-10 0-0 8, Hannibal 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 31-78 20-31 90.
Halftime—South Carolina 45-40. 3-Point Goals—Cleveland St. 2-10 (Eichelberger 1-1, Potoma 1-3, Gomillion 0-1, D.Williams 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Beaudion 0-1, Ferreira 0-2), South Carolina 8-25 (Bolden 2-3, Couisnard 2-4, Moss 2-5, Lawson 2-5, Anderson 0-1, Frink 0-1, McCreary 0-1, Kotsar 0-1, Hannibal 0-1, Minaya 0-3). Fouled Out—Gomillion, D.Williams. Rebounds—Cleveland St. 34 (Eichelberger, Penn 7), South Carolina 42 (Frink 11). Assists—Cleveland St. 6 (Penn 3), South Carolina 12 (Moss, Bolden, Lawson 3). Total Fouls—Cleveland St. 29, South Carolina 21. Technicals—Frink.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 9:05 PM.
