South Carolina turns in impressive offensive showing, tops UMass in Bryant’s return
Keyshawn Bryant bounced to the beats blaring over the speakers at the Mullins Center until he found himself surrounded by his teammates. Tip time was nearing and South Carolina closed its warm-up session by throwing its “new” player in the middle of a season-long pre-game tradition. Bryant was playfully pushed around the circle. He smiled, the Gamecocks smiled.
USC was finally at full strength in 2019-20, just in time for its first true road game.
Bryant returned from his knee injury and the Gamecocks had their best offensive performance of the season en route to an 84-80 win over UMass on Wednesday night.
South Carolina shot a season-best 55% from the floor, scored a season-high 52 points in the paint and got a combined 53 from Bryant, A.J. Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard.
It also nearly gave away a nine-point lead with 1:15 left.
What did Frank Martin learn about his team 870 miles from home? “They’re going to make me age really, really hard this year,” said the USC coach. “They’re really, really fun to coach. It’s just there’s a lot of mistakes that we’re making right now.”
The Gamecocks are 6-3. Here’s the fun part about their latest showing: After some early sloppiness, they put on a clinic in press breaking. Bryant dunked, Couisnard dished and Lawson was a blur to the rim.
That last part hadn’t been seen before Wednesday because Bryant was missing. The sophomore wing was cleared to play after morning shoot-around. He checked in with 15:26 left in the first half and mostly looked like the exciting player who helped the Gamecocks to a fourth place finish in the SEC as a rookie.
He ended with 13 points, including five in a 33-second span in the second half that put Carolina ahead, 75-66, with 3:28 remaining.
“It felt good,” Bryant said. “I was just trying to get my flow back with the team. They welcomed me with open arms. It just felt good to get back on the floor.”
His presence was timely as South Carolina went up against a UMass bunch that pressed at every opportunity. It required good play in the open floor, which Bryant could provide.
But it was Couisnard and Lawson who took control of the operation. South Carolina had six turnovers in the first five minutes of the game, forcing Martin to adjust. He opted for Couisnard and Lawson, normally positioned off the ball, to replace a struggling Jair Bolden at point guard. Lawson responded with 24 points. Couisnard had 16 and six assists.
That duo help execute Martin’s main mission heading into the game.
“The game plan today was don’t shoot 3s in the open court,” Martin said. “We wanted to get behind their press and then go make plays at the rim, which we did.”
South Carolina scored 72 points over the final 30 minutes with 19 assists to 10 turnovers. It only took 10 3s, making two of them.
“When they came to double team us, we found the open guy by just looking down the court,” Lawson said of the switch in production, “which Coach told us do at practice. We knew they were going to double-team and pressure us real hard. And when we looked up, we found the open guy. That’s why we got so many points in the paint.”
The Gamecocks, down as many as nine in the first half, trailed by as many as three in the second. Despite serious foul trouble — UMass was in the bonus less than five minutes into the period — South Carolina went on a 17-6 run that had it up 78-67 with 2:40 left.
The lead was still 79-70 at the 1:15 mark when the Minutemen (5-4) made a late push. Consecutive 3s from T.J. Weeks and Carl Pierre cut things to 82-80 with eight seconds left.
But Lawson iced the game with a pair of free throws.
“I’m real happy that we figured out a way to get a road win,” Martin said.
UMass was led by 17 points from Tre Mitchell, 16 from East and 15 from Weeks.
And one: This was Couisnard’s best showing of the season. The redshirt freshman was a picture of poise against the press.
Personal foul: Bolden grew out of favor with Frank Martin early in this one. He logged just eight minutes as the Gamecocks got more production with Lawson or Couisnard at point guard.
Tip-in: South Carolina’s 30 points in the paint in the first half were more than its total paint points in six games games this season.
NEXT
Who: Houston at South Carolina
When: Noon, Sunday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: ESPNU
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 9:18 PM.
