Boston bites USC to give Gamecocks first loss of season
Blowout season ended Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.
South Carolina was a dominant, balanced, defensive force through three games in 2019-20, whipping lower-tier opponent like a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations should. It was 120 minutes of dunks, blocks and, really, fun, as USC did away with North Alabama, Wyoming and Cleveland State.
But this fourth opportunity offered intense and uncomfortable moments. While the foe was similar — Boston University of the Patriot League entered with a 2-2 record and No. 213 national ranking on KenPom.com — the performance was not.
Frank Martin’s squad suffered a sobering 78-70 loss.
In shades of Stony Brook and Wyoming from a season ago — a couple early shockers early that hurt the Gamecocks late in the year — South Carolina wasn’t sharp against a team it was favored by 15 points to handle.
“They’re an old team,” Martin said of the Terriers, who returned four from starters from last year. “And they just went at us. We got good guys in our locker room, but it’s the first time we deal with real adversity — other than dealing with me in practice — and we became a very quiet, in-our-feelings team. When I talk about immaturity, that’s what I’m talking about.
“The harder the game got, the louder their players got and the quieter our players got. We got to grow up.”
AJ Lawson had 22 points and Maik Kotsar added 14, but no other Gamecock emerged as a threat offensively. Martin still went deep into his bench, but it did little to wear down the Terriers (3-2).
Boston U, which has losses to Vermont and Northeastern, held South Carolina to 40% shooting, including an ugly 4 of 22 showing from 3-point range.
BU got 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Javante McCoy to lead the program’s first-ever win over an SEC team.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “I’m proud of the way we fought all night. But this is a game that I think will really help us because we had to be tough. We couldn’t walk in here and think we could even have a chance to be competitive unless we were tough.
“It was a great challenge for us to come here and compete.”
South Carolina twice trailed by five in the second half before Lawson’s three-point play tied things at 60 with 7:05 left. The Terriers, though, taking advantage of their 11th offensive rebound of the night, responded with a McCoy 3. The lead was extended to six with 4:11 left. It got to nine a minute later.
“We give up a bad offensive rebound,” Martin said, “like a bad offensive rebound. Like a no-effort, offensive rebound. (The ball) kicked out and we just stood there and watched a game shoot a 3. Nobdoy rotated over.
“We fight for the rebound and maybe it give us a chance to get a lead, and maybe we keep a lead. But we didn’t.”
The Terriers closed the game on an 18-10 run, pushing the Gamecocks to 3-1 on the season
Lawson and Kotsar aside, the Gamecocks lacked a complete offensive punch. Jermaine Couisnard, Jair Bolden and T.J. Moss finished with a combined 14 points on 6 of 26 shooting.
“Those guys have made shots for us before,” Martin said. “They’re going to make shots for us again. They didn’t make any today.”
South Carolina took a 38-35 halftime lead thanks to a takeover from Lawson. He scored or assisted on the Gamecocks’ final four possessions, including a deep 3 with four seconds left.
Boston U lead by as many as four in the opening period as it took advantage of a dreaded cold spell for the home team. USC, often settling for outside shots against BU’s zone, missed 11 in a row over a five-minute stretch.
And one
An engaged, energetic Kotsar showed up for a second straight game. The senior followed his five-point, 12-rebound performance in the Cleveland State win by reaching double figures in scoring for the first time this season.
Personal foul
South Carolina entered Tuesday last in the SEC in free throw percentage. It didn’t help its cause by going 12 of 21 against the Terriers.
Box score
BOSTON U. (3-2): Mahoney 4-7 1-3 9, McCoy 6-15 4-5 17, Harper 3-6 4-4 13, Vilarino 3-8 5-7 12, Whyte 3-12 1-3 8, Hemphill 2-4 0-0 4, Mathon 1-2 0-0 2, Brittain-Watts 3-6 0-0 8, Petcash 2-4 0-0 5, Tynen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 15-22 78.
SOUTH CAROLINA (3-1): Frink 3-6 2-4 8, Kotsar 7-10 0-1 14, Minaya 2-4 6-8 10, Bolden 4-10 0-0 8, Lawson 8-18 4-6 22, McCreary 1-2 0-0 2, Leveque 0-1 0-0 0, Hannibal 0-0 0-0 0, Couisnard 2-10 0-0 6, Moss 0-6 0-2 0. Totals 27-67 12-21 70.
Halftime—South Carolina 38-35. 3-Point Goals—Boston U. 9-25 (Harper 3-5, Brittain-Watts 2-4, Vilarino 1-2, Petcash 1-3, Whyte 1-5, McCoy 1-6), South Carolina 4-22 (Couisnard 2-5, Lawson 2-8, Frink 0-1, Minaya 0-1, Moss 0-3, Bolden 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Boston U. 36 (Whyte , South Carolina 40 (Kotsar, Bolden, Lawson 7). Assists—Boston U. 15 (Vilarino 6), South Carolina 14 (Lawson 5). Total Fouls—Boston U. 17, South Carolina 16.
NEXT
Who: Gardner-Webb at South Carolina
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network Plus
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 8:56 PM.
