Jackson, Phillips to be honored on senior night
South Carolina’s men’s basketball team will host Mississippi State tonight for a battle to get out of last place in the SEC.
The game against the Bulldogs is also senior night for the Gamecocks. Forward Lakeem Jackson and reserve guard Shane Philllips will be playing the final home games of their college careers.
Earlier in the season, coach Frank Martin said he wanted Jackson to step up and help turn this team in the right direction. At his weekly press conference, Martin said the Charlotte native has tried his best to lead the team.
“He has given us a solid year,” Martin told reporters. “We still have opportunities to take the court and continue to take positive steps and move forward from where we were at to where we can finish at. He has been a big part of that. He has come in every day, and he has tried to do what he has been asked to do.”
Phillips had his most productive game as a Gamecock Saturday night at Texas A&M. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native played a career-high 13 minutes in the 74-56 loss and also recorded personal bests of two points and three assists.
With just two games left in the regular season, the Gamecocks (13-16, 3-13 SEC) can’t do much to improve their stock in the upcoming SEC tournament.
However, Martin sees the final two games as an opportunity to get more practice and experience. USC hung close with Texas A&M on the road before the Aggies ran away with the game in the end.
Martin said turnovers and missed shots, culprits all season long, were the reasons that his team was not able to pull off the road win.
“Bad turnovers are hard to overcome,” Martin said. “You can overcome a guy trying to drive in the lane to make a play and getting a charge. We can overcome those; those are good aggressive plays. When you (try to) pass the ball from the point to the wing and throw it to the defense and they go get a dunk, it is hard to overcome those turnovers.”
Despite the step in the wrong direction Saturday, Martin said he has been pleased with the way his team has handled the ball for the most part. Earlier in the season, the first-year coach said his team turned the ball over “every other play.”
Over the past couple of games, those turnover problems have popped up again, and Martin says the Gamecocks “must get away from” them.
Turnovers played a huge role in the Gamecocks’ 56-54 loss at Mississippi State to open up league play earlier in the season. USC turned it over 24 times and allowed the Bulldogs (8-20, 3-13 SEC) to escape with the win despite shooting 38.8 percent from the field and not making a 3-pointer the entire game.
Martin says the leadership of Jackson and Phillips will be key in determining if USC can pick up its fourth conference win of the season Wednesday, which would be double the total from a season ago.
“As a staff, we have given them everything we got to help them learn how to win and how to leave here with a good feeling about wearing that uniform,” Martin said.