With lights-out shooting, Martin’s Gamecocks bury Wofford. Here’s what we learned
This South Carolina men’s basketball team can shoot.
Riding a red-hot Erik Stevenson from the 3-point line, Frank Martin’s Gamecocks defeated visiting Wofford 85-74 at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday night.
With the win the Gamecocks moved to 4-1 on the season and picked up a quality win against a solid Terriers (4-2) team.
Here’s what we learned about the Gamecocks.
Stevenson is on fire
Billed as a sharpshooter when he stepped on campus, the transfer guard Stevenson opened the season shooting just 2-for-25 from the 3-point line.
In the past two games, he’s awakened in a big way.
Coming off a season-best 15 points and three 3-pointers in USC’s Thursday win against UAB, Stevenson surpassed both marks Tuesday before halftime against the Terriers, pacing the Gamecocks with scorching 18 points and four 3-pointers in the first half.
He finished with a team-high 25 points and six rebounds, shooting 5-of-7 from the 3-point line and 9-for-14 from the field.
“I gotta credit the program, the staff, players, all my teammates, they’re always telling me to shoot,” Stevenson said. “Even when I’m not open, they tell me to shoot. It’s a relief to have a group of guys, a group of family members in my opinion, tell me to keep playing with confidence and keep shooting.”
As a team, the Gamecocks came into the contest averaging 6.3 3-pointers per game and shooting 28.1% from the perimeter. On Tuesday, the Gamecocks made 12 of 22 (55%).
Point guard play a work in progress
In the past two games before Tuesday, the Gamecocks turned the ball over a combined 46 times, with head coach Frank Martin pointing to point guard play as the key culprit.
Junior Jermaine Couisnard has started all five games at the point, and while he came into Tuesday’s contest leading the Gamecocks in scoring, he was also averaging 5.25 turnovers per contest. Those turnovers struck again early, with four by the junior guard in the first half alone.
Martin had attributed rust to some of those struggles with Couisnard, who missed a couple weeks of practice just before the season with a minor hamstring strain. But with turnovers hampering USC early in the contest, Martin tried a couple of different looks at the point, giving transfer Chico Carter Jr. a season-high nine minutes in the first half and turning to freshman Jacobi Wright in the second half.
Couisnard played a cleaner, turnover-free second half and made three 3-pointers of his own for 14 points.
Wilson quiet in Gamecocks debut
Martin has expressed frustration with his team’s play at the 4 position so far this season, starting his 6-foot-5 son Brandon Martin at power forward last game against UAB for a more stable defensive presence.
On Tuesday, the 6-foot-7 George Mason graduate transfer A.J. Wilson made his much-anticipated debut for the Gamecocks and stepped right into the starting lineup at the 4. Wilson missed the first four games of the season due to a combination of a minor back strain and an illness that wasn’t COVID-19. In between, there was a death in his family that hit him hard and kept him out of the lineup in both games of the Asheville Championship.
“I went through a lot mentally and I credit my teammates ... they kept me in it and they were my shoulders to cry on,” Wilson said. “Everybody had my back. Everybody understood why I was (healthy) enough to play in Asheville, but decided not to play just because I wasn’t in a good mental space. Everybody understood, and they respected that. And that’s why this team is a family because everybody understands one another. And just getting back today just felt right.”
Touted for his defensive experience and shot-blocking ability, Wilson put in a quiet performance in the box score, scoring just four points and pulling down three rebounds in his 20 minutes. But he also admitted after the game that he wasn’t in basketball shape after sitting out the last couple of weeks, and Martin quipped Wilson was out of breath after a minute on the court.
South Carolina’s big men struggled as a whole, with none of Wildens Leveque, Wilson, Josh Gray or Ta’Quan Woodley surpassing six points or three rebounds.
Next USC men’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina vs. Rider
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
Watch: Streaming on SEC Network Plus
Box score: South Carolina 85, Wofford 74
WOFFORD (4-2): Godwin 0-2 0-0 0, Mack 2-9 4-6 9, Bigelow 3-12 5-6 13, Klesmit 8-10 6-6 27, Larson 4-7 1-2 10, Safford 4-11 0-0 11, Patterson 1-3 2-3 4, L.Turner 0-1 0-0 0, K.Turner 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 18-23 74.
SOUTH CAROLINA (4-1): Wilson 1-2 2-2 4, Leveque 3-3 0-0 6, Couisnard 5-8 1-4 14, Reese 5-10 2-2 15, Stevenson 9-14 2-2 25, D.Carter 2-4 2-2 7, Gray 0-1 0-0 0, Woodley 2-3 2-3 6, Wright 2-3 0-0 4, C.Carter 2-4 0-0 4, Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-52 11-15 85.
Halftime—South Carolina 42-38. 3-Point Goals—Wofford 12-35 (Klesmit 5-7, Safford 3-9, Bigelow 2-10, Mack 1-2, Larson 1-4, Godwin 0-1, Patterson 0-1, L.Turner 0-1), South Carolina 12-22 (Stevenson 5-7, Reese 3-5, Couisnard 3-6, D.Carter 1-1, C.Carter 0-1, Wilson 0-1, Wright 0-1). Rebounds—Wofford 19 (Bigelow 7), South Carolina 28 (Stevenson 6). Assists—Wofford 14 (Larson 6), South Carolina 18 (Reese 4). Total Fouls—Wofford 19, South Carolina 22. A—8,411 (18,000).
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 9:07 PM.
