Where Virginia upset fits among USC‘s top 5 regular season wins under Frank Martin
Win No. 137 in Frank Martin’s South Carolina career won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
The Gamecocks, playing under the recently hung national championship banner at John Paul Jones Arena, upset No. 9 Virginia, 70-59, on Sunday.
USC (8-4) was a double-digit underdog, but won by double-digits. It led for 37 minutes, 30 seconds of a 40-minute game.
This was a complete effort and by far the best showing of the 2019-20 season, but where does it rank among Martin’s greatest triumphs while in charge of Carolina?
Since nothing tops the 2017 NCAA Tournament run, the following is a list of Martin’s best regular season wins as South Carolina coach:
1. South Carolina 70, No. 9 Virginia 59 — Dec. 22, 2019 in Charlottesville
So maybe Virginia doesn’t go on to make a repeat run to the national title — and perhaps the magnitude of this victory lessens in time — but it’s hard to ignore the significance of this right now.
Consider: The Cavaliers hadn’t lost a home non-conference game in three years, a span of 22 games.
This is a monster accomplishment for a USC team a month removed from losing to Boston University.
2. South Carolina 72, No. 17 Kentucky 67 — March 1, 2014 in Columbia
Martin’s first win over a ranked opponent as USC’s coach came near the end of Season No. 2.
Brenton Williams scored 25 points, John Calipari got ejected and fans stormed the court at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks finished that year 14-20. The Wildcats went on to appear in the national title game.
3. No. 24 South Carolina 57, No. 19 Florida 53 — Jan. 18, 2017 in Columbia
The Gamecocks beat three ranked opponents heading into that magical 2017 Big Dance, but none had this kind of foreshadowing.
Florida had a 5-0 SEC record when it came to Colonial Life Arena. USC knocked off the Gators then — and did it again in the Elite Eight.
4. No. 25 South Carolina 81, No. 8 Texas A&M 78 — Feb. 6, 2016 in College Station, Texas
This remains the highest ranked opponent knocked off by a Martin-coached Carolina team in his seven-plus regular seasons. And it came on the road.
Sindarius Thornwell had 25 points and nine assists as the Gamecocks improved to 20-3 in a season that ultimately ended in the NIT.
5. South Carolina 80, No. 16 Auburn 77 — Jan. 22, 2019 in Columbia
Sunday’s Virginia win was Carolina’s sixth over a ranked opponent in the post-Final Four seasons. There’s a variety of options to choose from — including two wins in Gainesville — but only one came over a team that wound up in the Final Four.
Chris Silva’s 32 points willed the Gamecocks over the Tigers. Auburn would only lose five more times that season, including a thriller to Virginia in the national semifinals.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
