Coming off a loss at Vanderbilt on Feb. 18, South Carolina senior guard Sindarius Thornwell said he wasn’t going to let the Gamecocks ruin their season.
His statement must have resonated with his teammates, as four players scored in double figures to defeat Tennessee 82-55 and snap a three-game losing streak Saturday.
“Our guys, their spirit has been real good again,” coach Frank Martin said.
“I was still so optimistic about our kids because they were not allowing a negative result in a game to impact who they are, who they’ve earned a right to be over five to six month period over an eight-day period. That’s a special group of guys.”
Sophomore guard P.J. Dozier scored a team-high 19 points, while the leading SEC scorer Thornwell and Duane Notice each added 15. Freshman Rakym Felder contributed 12 points off the bench on 50 percent field goal shooting.
USC elected to play a small lineup, as 6-foot-1 guard Hassani Gravett made his first career start in place of the 6-foot-10 forward Maik Kotsar. The team hit three of its 10 attempted 3-pointers in the first half, while Tennessee went 0 for 5 from behind the arc.
“I thought (Gravett) impacted the game in a positive way,” Martin said. “I thought he was better defensively than he’s been. I thought he gave us a little enthusiasm and energy.”
In the first 4:04 minutes of play, the Gamecocks put together an 8-0 run and jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the first media timeout. USC extended its lead as the half progressed, going up 27-9 with 8:18 left. The Volunteers trimmed USC’s lead to 38-30 by halftime, as starters Grant Williams and Robert Hubbs III each scored eight.
Dozier led the Gamecocks with 11 first-half points, while Thornwell and Notice weren’t far behind with six apiece. Sophomore forward Chris Silva started fast with four points, but committed his second foul with 10:53 remaining in the first half.
Out of the halftime break, Notice caught fire from behind the arc. With the Gamecocks' lead cut to seven, he sank back-to-back 3-pointers to put them up by 13 with 14:34 remaining.
“I was feeling pretty confident,” Notice said. “I’m the type of guy that if I make one, I feel like I can make every other three after that. I think our defense allowed us and put us in the position to where we could make those shots.”
The 3-point shots kept falling for USC, as Felder hit his second of the game and Thornwell followed with his first to put USC up 63-44 with 9:01 left.
With under five minutes left in regulation, Thornwell threw down a monstrous slam dunk, giving the Gamecocks a 20-point lead and shifting all of the momentum in their favor.
Hubbs III led Tennessee with 16 points, but the USC defense held every other Volunteer to single digits. Martin was pleased with the Gamecocks’ improved ball-screen defense, which he said was their biggest defensive deficiency coming into the game.
“Putting Sindarius (Thornwell) at the four gives us a cleaner, more experienced player to defend ball screens, especially early in the game,” Martin said. “Everybody has taken ownership to do better, myself included and you see that. We came out and guarded a lot better today.”
Next up
South Carolina (21-8, 11-5 SEC) will play its last home game of the regular season against Mississippi State at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The game will serve as Senior Night with guards Justin McKie, Notice and Thornwell being honored on the court.
“We’ve been thinking about it, just like we always say a 'farewell tour.' We’re kind of talking about how we don’t want the farewell tour to end,” Notice said. “So in order for us seniors to make sure the farewell tour doesn’t end, we’ve got to continue to play well to put ourselves in a position to have that one game extra.”