South Carolina’s start to SEC play has been frustrating for the Gamecocks to say the least.
But no loss stung more than the one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against LSU.Unlike its other conference losses, the Gamecocks held a clear advantage — a four-point lead with less than three minutes remaining — but allowed the Tigers to end the game on a 12-2 run, resulting in a 64-58 defeat.
South Carolina head coach Frank Martin was pleased with his team’s effort but not happy with the way the Gamecocks folded during the final minutes.
“Our guys gave great effort again, but unfortunately we can write a book on how to mess up games,” Martin said.
And things won’t get any easier for the Gamecocks with Georgia (14-5, 5-2 SEC) coming to town Saturday.
After riding a seven-game winning streak to during non-conference play, South Carolina (10-9, 1-6 SEC) has lost four consecutive games and six out of its last seven.
Down the stretch Wednesday night, it was LSU’s size and tenacity on defense that made things tough for the Gamecocks. In total, South Carolina had 13 shots blocked by LSU.
Like LSU, Georgia has proven itself to be one of the SEC’s better teams this season, and the Bulldogs have owned the Gamecocks in recent years.
South Carolina has lost its last five games against Georgia, and it will be tough for the Gamecocks to snap that streak.
Since starting off conference play 0-2 with close losses to Arkansas and LSU, Georgia is enjoying a five-game winning streak.
A lot of the Bulldogs’ success goes back to strong defense and hot shooting.
In conference play, opponents are shooting only 42.6 percent against Georgia, which could be bad news for South Carolina, considering the fact that the Gamecocks have made just 37 percent of their shots through seven SEC games.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have been dangerous on offense as of late, knocking down 45.3 percent of its three-pointers in their last seven contests.
It will be difficult for Martin’s team to highlight one Georgia player to key in on because, while senior forward Marcus Thornton leads his team with 13.5 points per game, he’s one of five Bulldogs who averages 10-plus points per game.
Still, as conference play in the SEC has shown, every team is beatable and if the Gamecocks can get sophomore guards Sindarius Thornwell and Duane Notice going on offense, South Carolina could upset Georgia.
Thornwell has been in a slump as of late and hasn’t made at least 50 percent of his shots in a game since Jan. 3 in South Carolina’s win over Iowa State.
Likewise, Notice has only scored in double-digits twice in SEC play after doing so eight games in a row back in December and in early January.
South Carolina’s depth could be lacking for the second consecutive game.
Both sophomore guard Justin McKie and sophomore forward Demetrius Henry missed Wednesday’s game against LSU with concussions.