Home game against Auburn kicks off string of winnable games
The possibility of turning the season around has dangled in front of the South Carolina men’s basketball team again and again during the conference season.
Some thought the turnaround would come at home against Ole Miss, when the Gamecocks wound up on the wrong end of a one-point game after giving up a double-digit lead. Or maybe it would materialize in a down-to-the-wire matchup with a strong Missouri team, or even when South Carolina picked up its first conference win against Texas A&M.
But that turnaround hasn’t come quite yet, and the Gamecocks (8-13, 1-7 SEC) still sit at the bottom of the conference.
However, coach Frank Martin says he thinks that with four of the next six games at home — starting with Auburn (10-9, 2-6 SEC) Wednesday — his team could salvage a so-far disappointing season.
“We haven’t played a lot at home, and that’s why I’m even prouder of my guys,” Martin said. “We’re right there.”
Wednesday’s home bout with the Tigers will be a matchup of the two bottom teams in the SEC, but Auburn has won its last two games after an 0-6 start to conference play that mirrored South Carolina’s six-game winless start.
Both teams have struggled to close out games against SEC foes. In Auburn’s six losses, just two have been by double-digits. Five of the Gamecocks’ seven conference defeats have been by less than 10 points.
Martin said he thinks those statistics can be an indication of good things to come, but he also said he doesn’t believe in positive takeaways from negative results.
“Moral victories, to me, should be taken off whatever sentence is ever used,” Martin said. “I can’t stand losing. And anyone that accept a loss has no business in competitive environments.”
While freshman guard Duane Notice agrees with his coach that a loss is a loss, narrow margins of defeat have him convinced that South Carolina has been right on the cusp of turning the corner as a team.
“Certainly there’s a sense of frustration, but at the same time, it’s more motivation,” Notice said. “We’re right there, and most games, we’re in control. So we’re kind of shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s not like we’re not as good as these teams.”
In Wednesday night’s matchup, the Gamecocks won’t face the question of whether or not they are capable of competing with Auburn, as both teams sit at the bottom of the conference. But South Carolina will be forced to contend with two individual threats the Tigers present.
Auburn has two of the SEC’s top-five scorers in guards Chris Denson and K.T. Harrell. Denson is second in the conference, averaging 19.5 points per game, and Harrell is fifth, with 19.2 per game.
But according to Martin, the number to be wary of in Auburn’s backcourt is not scoring totals, but age.
“Not only are they explosive, both of them are four-year guys,” Martin said. “When you’ve got guys that have been in college that long and some of them are coming to the end of their college career, that sense of urgency really, really goes up a notch.”