What we learned from South Carolina’s ‘résumé win’ over No. 9 Virginia
As the credits rolled on the final scene to ABC’s production of “South Carolina 70, Virginia 59,” Jay Bilas delivered his final thoughts.
“South Carolina sending a message,” said the prominent college basketball analyst. “They’re going to be a factor in SEC play this season. What a great performance by the Gamecocks in a difficult environment against a team that’s hard to play against.”
Added play-by-play man Jon Sciambi: “This is a résumé win for the Gamecocks.”
Leading into Sunday’s game, Frank Martin embraced all of its significance.
USC was going to take on the defending national champions, ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, in their home. And the matchup had the kind of television spotlight the Gamecock coach desired. Martin on Friday called it a “great opportunity.” Forty-eight hours later, they fully capitalized on it.
“Having the opportunity to come in here and play and play on national TV,” Martin said in the bowels of John Paul Jones Arena, “I hope the people that never pay attention to our team — because they don’t watch us, they don’t watch the SEC — stop with the nonsense that weren’t not any good. It’s a pretty good basketball team, and I think we’re getting a little better.”
Here’s what we learned from South Carolina’s first non-conference road win over a top 10 team since beating No. 8 Cincinnati on Feb. 15, 1997:
Season’s narrative is officially changed
If you’re a Gamecock basketball fan, you woke up unhappy two weeks ago. This team, creator of lofty offseason expectations, was 6-4 and coming off a 20-point home loss to Houston.
It felt like last non-conference season all over again. There was that head-scratching loss — see Boston University on Nov. 19 — and no signature wins, despite signature opportunities against Wichita State, Northern Iowa and the Cougars.
Amazing what two performances can do.
USC was looking at a 7-6 record after November and December — it was 5-7 at that point last year — and in need of a strong SEC run to be considered for postseason play. Now, after wins at Clemson and UVa (by a combined 24 points, no less), it’s set up to be 9-4 — Stetson (5-9) is the next opponent — heading into the SEC opener against Florida on Jan. 7.
Maybe Virginia was a bit overrated — its offensive issues are glaring — but it doesn’t lose to bad teams. Sunday’s was UVa’s fifth non-conference loss since 2015. Of those previous four Cavalier opponents, three went to the NCAA Tournament and the other (George Washington in 2015-16) won the NIT.
Coaching matters
Virginia’s Tony Bennett beat Roy Williams two weeks ago. He beat Jim Boeheim in the season opener. He’s had past success against Mike Brey, Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski.
He’s a two-time national coach of the year for a reason.
But on this day, after South Carolina forced his Cavaliers into 19 turnovers and the Gamecocks became the first UVa opponent this season to shoot better than 50% from the floor, Bennett was edged by Martin and the USC staff.
“I feel like they’re a hard team to play against with their pressure,” Bennett said. “They’ve got confidence the way they score. And they sensed our perimeter players, with the exception of Kiehi (Clark), weren’t used to guys in their shirts, so to speak.”
Carolina assistant Perry Clark provided the scouting report for this game. The Gamecocks tied a season-high with 14 steals, which allowed for 16 fast break points. These are rare numbers against a UVa system notorious for limiting transition opportunities.
“Our guys were pretty good,” Martin said. “We made it difficult for them to catch the ball in areas where they can be really aggressive offensively, which then helped us. ... (Virginia’s) good. They’re going to to go get the shots that they want. That’s Virginia basketball. And I thought our guys were pretty good. But the help-side defense was really good. That’s where our length comes into play.”
Trae Hannibal is must-watch
This game had all kinds of individual storylines — Jair Bolden had his best performance in a USC uniform, A.J. Lawson was a force in transition and Justin Minaya snapped out of his shooting funk at just the right time — but Trae Hannibal is quickly becoming a must-watch player.
The freshman only plays in spurts right now — that’ll expand once he gains a better sense of Martin’s system — but he’s making the most of his time.
Hannibal on Sunday checked in with 7:57 left in the first half. Within three minutes he had three steals, a tough lay-up and a converted 17-footer.
“He makes the ‘wow’ play and the bad mistake,” Martin said. “But he’s got a knack for the ball.”
Next
What: Stetson at South Carolina
When: 3 p.m. Dec. 30
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network Plus
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
