Behind the lead of its backcourt, South Carolina was able to beat Louisiana Tech 85-76 in its season opener.
The Gamecock backcourt accounted for 59 of their 85 points on the night yet was greatly hampered by 15 turnovers. These turnovers kept Louisiana Tech in the game, as it was able to turn it into 18 points. This was extremely significant, since otherwise LA Tech struggled to find other ways to consistently score.
Louisiana Tech’s only lead of the game came on the first points of the night. From there on out, the game was controlled by the Gamecocks, with them leading by as much as 15 points early in the second half. The game did get close, with about eight minutes remaining as DaQuan Bracey was fouled on a three-point attempt by Sindarius Thornwell that he was able to knock down, though South Carolina was able to pull away in the closing minutes with a 10-1 run with 3:49 remaining that put the game out of reach.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from Friday’s season opener:
The second-half emergence of Chris Silva
While the backcourt carried the Gamecocks most of the night, they received great assistance from Chris Silva in stopping Louisiana Tech’s late second-half surge. Silva played only four minutes in the first half, scoring zero points and recording only one rebound due to early foul trouble.
On his early fouls, coach Frank Martin said, “Chris just has to learn not to pick up those cheap fouls. He’s making the transition as a player, he’s gotta learn how to go from being an eight-to-10-minute-a-game guy to being a 24-minute-a-game guy, and there’s a learning process there.”
Yet in the second half, Silva became a force on the offense end and defensive end. He posted hard and demanded the ball and provided energy to South Carolina when it seemed as if the momentum was swinging in LA Tech’s direction.
With 3:06 seconds remaining in the game and South Carolina leading by only six points, Silva would run the floor for a dunk that would bring the fans in the arena to their feet.
Silva would end the night with 11 points and two rebounds on 18 minutes of playing time.
Depth off the bench
Early foul trouble from both Silva and fellow starter Maik Kotsar forced coach Martin to go deep into his bench, providing minutes to players like Ran Tut and Jarrell Holliman.
Holliman, a walk-on, scored four points and played 14 minutes. That is more playing time and points than he had in all of last years’ season.
“He’s worked real hard in the weight room, and I really think he’s going to help us this year. I really do,” said Martin after the game. “He helped us today.”
Hassani Gravett also provided depth and versatility to the South Carolina backcourt. He shared the point guard position with Dozier, often subbing in for him when Dozier needed a breather.
A few times though, coach Martin left Dozier in to play alongside Gravett, allowing Dozier to play off ball and look for his shot while Gravett ran the offense.
Struggle to not turn the ball over
Louisiana Tech was able to keep the game close through their full court press. They forced South Carolina into 15 turnovers, many of which occurring before South Carolina even crossed halfcourt.
Thornwell, who accounted for six of the turnovers, said, “We rushed and seen openings and we do passes when our teammates weren’t expecting.”
South Carolina did force Louisiana Tech into 14 turnovers of their own.
Next up
South Carolina will look towards its next game against Holy Cross this Sunday, at 6 p.m. in Colonial Life Arena. Holy Cross is coming off a season in which it made the NCAA tournament and posted its first NCAA tournament victory since 1953.