The South Carolina men’s basketball team made a few halftime adjustments to pull away from Newberry in a 107-89 exhibition win over the Wolves.
The Gamecocks faced full court pressure from Newberry the whole game. Newberry benefited from South Carolina's sloppy play early in the game, capitalizing on turnovers to score 46 points in the first half. The Wolves were constantly rotating players with multiple five-man substitutions. Leaving five guards on the floor the entire game, Newberry caused problems for South Carolina when the Gamecocks were playing with two bigs.
A second half surge by the Gamecocks allowed them to pull away and carry a substantial lead after the break. South Carolina cranked up its defense early in the second half, opening the half on a 29-11 run. The Gamecocks controlled the game from there, winning by 18.
Thornwell leads the way
Senior guard Sindarius Thornwell was the best player on the floor tonight. Thornwell had game-highs in points, rebounds, assists and blocks with a line of 34-11-5-5. He was a constant for the Gamecock offense, consistently finding points whenever a drought was looming. Head coach Frank Martin was quick to praise the senior.
“Sindarius is a heck of a player,” Martin said. “Sindarius is an unbelievable leader. Sin does more coaching on the court than I do now, and that’s a credit to who he is.”
Halftime adjustment
The Gamecocks made an adjustment on the offensive side of the ball at halftime that allowed them to build a big lead. More patience on offense allowed South Carolina to pull away.
“Our offense, we had guys trying to dribble in double teams, we turned it over and then we were shooting threes on the first pass, that’s what they want you to do,” Martin said.
“At halftime, I said, 'Stop. Somebody cut to the basket and throw it to the guy at the rim. They've got a bunch of little guys; throw it to him. Get some offensive rebounds and run some offense,'”he added.
The adjustment worked out well. More players grew into the game, and improved ball movement created better scoring opportunities. Sophomore guard PJ Dozier benefited the most from the change of play, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the second half.
Mixed performance on defense
South Carolina gave up 89 points to Newberry. The Wolves shot the ball well from the three-point line with 18 made shots. Because of their lack of size, they only hit 15 shots from inside the arc. South Carolina had energy on the floor and contested most of the Wolves' shots, but they hit a lot of tough jumpers.
“We have to do a better job of guarding the ball, and this team drives you from five places,” Martin said. “And the way he subs, it’s not the same guy driving you; it’s a new guy every single time.”
South Carolina did manage to dominate the glass, out-rebounding Newberry 52-33. The Gamecocks also managed to stay out of foul trouble, only sending the Wolves to the line for seven free throws.
Next up
The Gamecocks open the regular season Friday night at 6:30 p.m. when they host Louisiana Tech.