USC men stress importance of beating Clemson

Sindarius Thornwell paused.

“We know we have to win it … well, not really have to … but have to,” he said, drawing chuckles after Tuesday’s win over Drexel. “We definitely have to win that game. You don’t want to lose against Clemson.”

That’s true in football, tiddlywinks, bass fishing and especially men’s basketball, one of the few series where South Carolina has a lead over its archrival. As the matchup rears its head for the 166^th time, there are several storylines to watch.

Frank Martin’s going for his second straight, rivalry win. His Gamecocks are ranked 25^th in the USA Today/coaches’ poll this week and are just outside the Associated Press Top 25. For a Clemson team that has lost to Massachusetts, Alabama and Minnesota, a win over a Top 25 team could be just the tonic to feel better before embarking on the annual ACC gauntlet.

USC (9-0) has matched its best start since 1970-71, the year of its only ACC championship and its first NCAA Tournament berth. It’s also the last time the Gamecocks and Tigers faced each other as conference brothers.

“It’s important, because this game means a lot to the guys that played here in 1970,” Martin said. “It means a lot to the people who donate the money so we can eat $50 meals and travel on charter flights. So we have to come out and do our jobs the right way, because it’s so important to so many people.”

Some would say the rivalry hasn’t been as heated as it was when both schools were in the ACC, and winning the game meant a better spot in the standings as well as bragging rights. The Gamecocks and Tigers met twice, sometimes thrice, a year until USC departed after the 1971 championship.

They stuck to the two-game-per-season format as USC wandered the independent wilderness and then joined the Metro Conference, but switched to a single game per season in 1991, the year before USC began playing in the SEC. Coincidentally, that was when the Tigers began to make up ground in the series.

Clemson has gone 16-9 against the Gamecocks since 1991, with USC winning three of the last five. The Gamecocks lead 89-76.

This year’s game will feature a veteran team, one playing its best basketball in 45 years, against another veteran team that’s in a temporary home in Greenville while Littlejohn Coliseum is being refurbished. The Tigers will be playing their third game in six days while USC is preparing for the first of two straight road games. The Gamecocks, enjoying the adulation of being one of the country’s last unbeaten teams, know the potential pitfall that waits.

“I told the team … ‘Hey, we got to go win this game …’ What if we don’t? What does that mean, our season’s over?” Martin said. “But it’s an important game to the people who are the Gamecocks. And we have a responsibility to play well every single game, but especially this one.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 11:23 PM.