Men’s basketball wins first SEC Tournament games since 2008
“Survive and advance,” coach Frank Martin said. “That’s all you’re geared up to do at this time of year.”
That’s the mindset Martin and his South Carolina men’s basketball team brought into last week’s SEC Tournament after finishing the regular season second-to-last in the conference.
And the Gamecocks did just that in the early rounds of the competition, shattering expectations by winning two games in as many days to reach the quarterfinals before falling to Tennessee on Friday.
“Real proud of my guys,” Martin said. “Real proud of their commitment to building our program, to going out there and fighting.”
No. 13 seed South Carolina’s tournament run began Wednesday when the Gamecocks took on an Auburn team that they lost to by 16 points just weeks prior.
South Carolina was in control from the start; finishing the first half with a 12-point lead on the way to a convincing 74-56 victory over the Tigers behind a career-high 23 points from freshman guard Duane Notice.
“I’ve just got to credit the coaching staff because all year they’ve been on me,” Notice said. “I’m learning, or beginning to learn, the different spots and how to choose my spots when it comes to the point guard position.”
The win over No. 12 seed Auburn was South Carolina’s first SEC tournament victory since 2008.
The Gamecocks faced a quick turnaround, squaring off against Arkansas the next day. Since the No. 5 seed Razorbacks received a bye for the first round of the tournament, Thursday’s meeting with the Gamecocks served as their first contest in the Georgia Dome.
Arkansas proved to be a much more formidable opponent, as the score was tight throughout the game. With a two-point lead and just two seconds left on the clock, the Gamecocks were able to hold on as Arkansas’ potential game-winner fell short. South Carolina emerged as 71-69 victors to extend its improbable run in the conference tourney.
According to senior guard Brenton Williams, the Gamecocks’ two consecutive victories in the competition offer a glimpse into the future of the program.
“It shows what this team is capable of doing,” Williams said. “During the year we had our ups and downs, but I think towards the end of the year we started to make strides going into the right direction.”
In what would turn out to be Williams’ last game for South Carolina, the fourth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers proved too much for the upstart Gamecocks. No South Carolina player was able to break double digits in the contest and the Gamecocks’ tournament run would end with Friday’s 59-44 loss to Tennessee.
“We didn’t back down,” Martin said. “We just didn’t have the ‘umph’ to that you need to defeat this kind of an opponent.”
South Carolina’s three games in Atlanta put the team’s year-end record at 14-20 with a 5-13 SEC mark. The Gamecocks’ 14 wins on the season match the total from a year ago despite this year’s considerably tougher schedule. South Carolina’s five conference victories are one better than the number achieved by last season’s team.
Barring any transfers, the program will return all but one of its players next year including three-time SEC Freshman of the Week Sindarius Thornwell.
With a young nucleus and steady improvement throughout the season, Thornwell hopes that the Gamecocks’ eye-opening run in the SEC Tournament is just the beginning for a South Carolina basketball program long overdue for a winner.
“It was good for us to come in and get things going toward the end of the season,” Thornwell said. “Hopefully it’ll carry over in the offseason — during the summer and preseason — and come November we can build off this and try to keep momentum going.”