Williams registers 24 to lead South Carolina over Wildcats
If the students were reminded once, they were reminded a thousand times not to storm the court. But there was no keeping them in their seats Saturday night as they poured onto the floor to celebrate South Carolina’s 72-67 upset victory over No. 17 Kentucky.
“I kind of almost blacked out,” senior guard Brenton Williams said. “I’m just stomping around with thousands of students on top of me, and it was just a great experience. It’s something I will never, ever forget.”
The Gamecocks (11-18, 4-12) looked to be in top form throughout the game, finishing the first half with a 31-28 lead. The South Carolina advantage grew to as many as 16 points during the second half, and the game looked to be well in hand with 10 minutes left to play.
But the Wildcats proved why they’re a top-25 team by charging back into the contest and cutting the lead to just one point with 20 seconds to go.
Freshman guard Sindarius Thornwell stepped to the free-throw line in those waning seconds and sunk both shots to effectively seal the deal for the Gamecocks.
Coach Frank Martin doled out some understandable praise for Thornwell for his part in the victory, but it was the coach’s broader comments that spoke volumes about the freshman.
“I’m so proud of Sindarius Thornwell. I can’t tell you how proud I am of that kid,” Martin said. “It would’ve been easy for him to go to another school. He had the courage to come here and help me build this.”
Thornwell, who was in the stands as a fan the last time the Gamecocks upset Kentucky, finished as South Carolina’s second-leading scorer with 14 points. Williams turned in a game-high 24 points behind a 15-of-16 performance at the free throw line.
Sophomore center Laimonas Chatkevicius did his part in the clutch moments as well, scoring six of his eight points within the last five minutes of the game. The Lithuanian big man also collected the second-most rebounds on the team with five, which was behind only sophomore forward Michael Carrera and his seven rebounds.
While a number of Gamecocks stepped up with the game on the line, after the game, Martin expressed his gratitude to the fans at Colonial Life Arena for the part they played in the victory.
“If we do our jobs, we’re going to have the best fans in the country for men’s basketball. I know it; I feel it; it’s coming,” Martin said. “Our student section was phenomenal.”
Just as Martin said after the game, Thornwell said he couldn’t thank the fans enough for the atmosphere they provided during the upset.
“Our fans were loud. It builds momentum. When we hit a shot or something and our crowd gets going, we get going,” Thornwell said. “So we want to thank the crowd for coming and helping us pull off the win.”
The scene on Saturday night was a raucous one throughout, as many Kentucky fans made the trip to Columbia to watch their Wildcats take on South Carolina. And while the spectators battled back and forth verbally, tensions were high down on the floor as well.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari garnered two technical fouls on the night for berating the referees, leading to his ejection in the second half.
Saturday’s triumph over the Wildcats was South Carolina’s first win over a ranked team since the Gamecocks toppled a No. 18 Vanderbilt team in 2011.
Throughout this season, the book on South Carolina was its inability to finish in close games. When the Gamecocks grinded out a win over Alabama several weeks ago, it was the first sign of maturation that fans and coaches alike could hang their hats on.
But after taking down the 17th-best team in the nation Saturday night, South Carolina finally has its signature win of a strenuous, albeit young, Frank Martin era.
“The biggest thing was don’t let the moment get to us,” Thornwell said. “They hit a few shots, don’t panic, stay focused, stay on task. And that’s what we did. We stayed on task and pulled away.”