Foul trouble, turnovers hurt basketball team in 64-55 home defeat
South Carolina had its chances to beat Clemson for the third straight year when the two teams met on Sunday. But the Tigers responded to every threat with a run that shut the Gamecocks down.
It was that kind of day for USC, as Clemson’s pressure defense forced mistakes and got multiple Gamecocks in early foul trouble en route to a 64-55 win for the archrival Tigers.
USC shot just 34.6 percent from the field while committing 28 fouls and 19 turnovers.
“It’s hard to win against anybody when you continue to turn the ball over 20 times and you’re just inept on offense,” coach Frank Martin said. “When you try to score the basketball on individuality rather than team concepts against good teams, you shoot a low percentage and you turn it over. That’s the unfortunate trap that we continue to fall into.”
Just five minutes into the game, forwards RJ Slawson and Michael Carrera had two fouls apiece for the Gamecocks. That forced Martin to take out both players, who have together contributed 34 percent of the team’s rebounding so far this season.
“If the referee calls it a foul, it’s a foul,” Martin said. “The first 10-12 minutes of the first half, we committed fouls because we were hesitant and played on our heels with no toughness.”
The Tigers forced the issue, and Carrera picked up his third foul less than halfway through the game.
Junior guard Brenton Williams, who finished with 16 points after a neck injury at St. John’s, said that the team just needed to settle down and execute its defense.
However, Clemson kept up the pressure on the basket in the second half, and Slawson was charged with his third foul less than a minute into the period. For the game, the Tigers made 37 trips to the free throw line, hitting 27 of them.
USC had its chances to get back in the game, particularly at the end of the first half. Clemson extended its lead to 23-11 with just more than six minutes left in the half after a layup by Rod Hall. However, the Gamecocks responded with a 16-5run, cutting the deficit to one at halftime. Williams had six of those points.
Martin was pleased with the run and said it was the happiest he has been in a long time.
“I finally saw guys on the court playing with the discipline and tenacity and the lessons that we try to teach,” Martin said. “I think it’s no surprise that we were in the game. But we don’t understand how to do that at a high level over an extended period of time.”
USC regained the lead after halftime, but a 6-0 run by Clemson put the Tigers in front for good.
The Gamecocks made a run late in the second half, cutting the Tiger lead to four at 51-47 with four minutes remaining in the game after a jumper by junior point guard Bruce Ellington. However, that was as close as USC would get, as Clemson responded with a 9-1 run that put the game away.
“Whoever you are, you need to be that all the time,” Martin said. “You can’t be that every once in a while just when things are good. Right now, we’re trying to figure that out.”
Williams said the team needs to work on its on-the-court communication. Martin shared the frustration and suggested having his players bring computers to practice because, he said, “they never shut up on Twitter.”
Martin said he saw glimpses of what he wants his team to be, but that inexperience is still hampering the progress.
The first-year coach has been particularly pleased with the play of Ellington after his return from football; he said Ellington has learned more in three days of practice than some of the guys who have been practicing every day for the past two months. The football team’s leading wide receiver finished with 12 points against the Tigers on the hardwood.
Ellington said that he needs to get in shape and was disappointed in the loss to the Tigers after helping the football team beat its in-state rivals last weekend.
“You can’t win them all,” Ellington said. “I’m a little frustrated and mad, but I just have to worry about next week.”