Early lead slips away, Gamecocks can’t top Crimson Tide down the stretch
South Carolina men’s basketball got about as good a start as possible on the road, racing out to a 12-point lead in just more than 7 minutes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
But familiar problems, fouls and free throws, let the Crimson Tide back in, and the hosts got it done down the stretch.
It only took 5 1/2 minutes for the Crimson Tide to race back into the game and ‘Bama ultimately handed Frank Martin’s South Carolina squad a 90-86 loss in its last Quadrant 1 opportunity of the regular season. USC led at halftime, but the Gamecocks (17-12, 9-7 SEC) were unable to hold down the fastest offense in the conference.
“We put up no fight defensively on the ball,” Martin said in his postgame interview, lamenting a string of drives allowed to Alabama guards. “You don’t win on the road by scoring. ... You win on the road by defending an rebounding. We were embarrassing today.”
Gamecocks forward Keyshawn Bryant missed a difficult runner that would have tied it with 25 seconds left. Nate Oats’ Alabama squad (16-12, 8-8) started pulling away with about 7 minutes left, forcing to play from two scores behind for most of the stretch..
Gamecocks point guard Jermaine Couisnard took a hard fall on his arm or shoulder early in the second half, and had to leave for a stretch before returning.
One area where South Carolina ran into issues was the offensive glass, where the Tide recovered 12 of its misses and turned that into 16 points. Outside shots also loomed large after halftime, as the Gamecocks missed all four of their 3s, while Arkansas went 5 of 11.
Keyshawn Bryant delivered a career high 22 points as well as 13 rebounds for USC, connecting on 9 of 13 shots and 4 of 6 from the line. A.J. Lawson was second on USC with 17 points.
Martin noted Bryant missed practice the day before the game with a migraine.
Kira Lewis put up 25 for Alabama, with lightly-used forward Javian Davis putting in 20 and Jaden Shackelford adding 18.
The first-half fouls were a problem, as South Carolina sent Alabama players to the line 19 times on 13 fouls. All three of South Carolina’s centers had at least two fouls.
“All we do is foul, foul, foul, foul, reach, reach, reach, handcheck, handcheck” Martin said.
At game’s end, the Tide had attempted 47 free throws after 29 fouls (USC was 17 of 26). In a season where opponents’ free throws have been a running issue, Alabama had the most makes and attempts for any USC opponent this season.
Coleman Coliseum has been a house of horrors for the Gamecocks historically. USC came into Saturday having lost five in a row there dating back to 2009 (since USC joined the SEC, it was 2-12).
The loss means South Carolina can at best reach 19 wins before the end of the regular season. Martin said at the start of the week his team had the top-end victories it needed in its NCAA tournament chase but needed to add to the raw win total.
NEXT
What: Mississippi State at South Carolina
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 10:42 PM.
