South Carolina rallies but can’t finish upset of No. 11 Alabama
The final 3.9 seconds encapsulated South Carolina’s entire season.
The Gamecocks were down by just three points to visiting No. 11 Alabama on Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena. With the ball in USC’s possession, head coach Frank Martin called a timeout, gathered his team on the sideline and drew up a play that had three built-in options for a 3-point shot.
The clock started. The Gamecocks inbounded the ball. No one took a 3-pointer.
The Alabama players crowded the 3-point line, left the basket wide open, and the Gamecocks played right into their trap. The ball found forward Justin Minaya near the hoop. He laid it in for two points, then fouled Alabama immediately. The Crimson Tide made both free throws, and South Carolina couldn’t get off another shot.
Just like that, a close-fought, back-and-forth battle ended with a whimper. The Gamecocks fell, 81-78.
Martin watched from the bench, bewildered. He couldn’t quite explain what he saw after the game.
“You probably know as much as me,” Martin said. “... Instead of running what we asked them to run, we just (had) no mental connection with the situation, but that’s the story of the whole season. And it’s no more (COVID-19) excuse. We’ve been practicing for three weeks now. It’s no more excuse for that. That’s the story of the whole season is our inability to have five guys on the same page.”
Much has been made of the three COVID-19 pauses that sidelined South Carolina for much of December and parts of January, but the Gamecocks (5-8, 3-6 SEC) have now played eight straight games without a postponement, and they’ve gone 2-6 in those games.
Tuesday was an opportunity to defeat a ranked opponent for the second time in three games and perhaps build positive traction. Just like on the road at Houston in early December or at LSU in mid-January or against Mississippi State at home on Saturday, the Gamecocks had every chance to defeat Alabama (16-5, 11-1).
But once again, Martin’s club couldn’t find a way to finish.
“(We’ve got to) have a good practice on Thursday and try to refocus,” Minaya said. “And just being in the moment, like in those moments ... we gotta learn from this and be able to just be better down the stretch and execute what is drawn up for us and being able to do what we need to do to win games like this.”
3 Observations from USC-Alabama
1. Blow for blow
Only two teams in the entire country have attempted more 3-pointers than Nate Oats’ Alabama club. The Tide is one of the most prolific deep-shooting teams in the country. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks entered the game coming off a loss to Mississippi State in which they missed 41 of 62 shots.
Alabama, as expected, took plenty of 3-pointers, making 12 of 34. And the team’s leading shooter from beyond the arc, guard John Petty Jr., paced Alabama with both his 20 points and eight rebounds, taking advantage of several long rebounds.
Martin said Monday that he wanted to work more on the offensive side of the game in practice. Much of USC’s practice work in recent weeks has been focused on defense. In recent games, Martin said the Gamecocks’ offense has been so simple he’s hardly called any plays.
On Tuesday, not only did the Gamecocks keep pace with Alabama, but they even shot a touch better than the Tide from the field — 44% to 38%. Junior A.J. Lawson once again led the Gamecocks in scoring with 21 points and five 3-pointers, while Keyshawn Bryant finished closely behind with 16.
The difference came at the 3-point line and free-throw line, as the Gamecocks made just six of 25 3-point attempts and made just 57% of their free throws.
2. Minaya bounces back
Final basket aside, Minaya went from having his worst game of the season in the loss to Mississippi State to one of his most complete games of the year against the Tide.
Martin said something was off about Minaya’s energy in the game against the Bulldogs, in which the junior missed all five of his 3-point attempts and finished scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting overall. The team’s top rebounder, Minaya also pulled down only three rebounds against a physical Bulldogs team.
On Tuesday night, Minaya found an extra spark, scoring a season-high 15 points and attacking the glass for a team-leading seven rebounds. At one point in the second half, the 6-foot-6 Minaya took flight for a rare, explosive dunk.
3. Rude welcome home
The Alabama roster features three Columbia natives, two of which have played significant minutes for the Tide. None factored into Tuesday’s contest.
Forward Juwan Gary, who played high school ball at Gray Collegiate Academy before transferring to West Charlotte/Liberty Heights, drew the start for Alabama but injured himself just two minutes into the first half, screaming in audible pain on the court as he clutched his left shoulder. He walked off the court and into the Alabama locker room and never returned.
Gary’s name was the first Martin mentioned in his post-game press conference.
“First and foremost, my heart goes out to Juwan Gary,” Martin said. “He gets a chance to come home and play in front of friends and family, and I think he separated his shoulder. He’s a great kid. I spent a lot of time getting to know him and his family. And I hope he’s OK.”
The Tide was already playing shorthanded without fellow Columbia native Jordan Bruner, a graduate transfer from Yale whose older sister, Ashley Bruner, played for the USC women’s team. Martin said Monday that he had spoken to Bruner a couple of times about transferring to South Carolina after the Ivy League canceled winter sports. Bruner required knee surgery in January but is expected back this season.
Walk-on graduate transfer Kendall Wall, a Spring Valley High teammate of Bruner’s, also plays for Alabama but didn’t see action Tuesday night.
Next USC basketball game
Who: South Carolina (5-8, 3-6 SEC) vs. Mississippi (10-8, 5-6)
Where: Colonial Life Arena
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 8:46 PM.
