South Carolina men’s basketball earned their third straight win to start the year on Wednesday night in an 81-61 victory over Presbyterian. Key contributions from the team’s freshman class proved integral to the team’s third straight over 80-point performance.
Freshman forward Hayden Assemian got the start due to an injury that put senior forward Nordin Kapic on a minutes restriction. Assemian committed to the Gamecocks alongside former Overtime Elite and Moravian Prep teammate Eli Ellis. The freshman guard has seen major minutes in the team’s sixth-man role to start the season.
Freshman guard Grant Polk saw his most minutes in a game this season with 19 in the win over Presbyterian. He helped the Gamecocks get going early when he knocked down his second 3-pointer of the season and the team’s first of the game. Before Polk’s make, the team was 0/6 from the field and 0/5 from beyond the arc.
Ellis followed up Polk’s make with a tough bucket of his own to notch his first points of the game. On the very next possession, Ellis would find a wide-open Assemian under the basket for a dunk that put South Carolina ahead 12-4 eight minutes into the game.
The freshmen would power the Gamecocks through the first half; Polk’s second three of the night at the 10:28 mark would keep him as the only player on the team to have made a triple up until that point.
With 9:00 to go in the first half, Presbyterian had hit just one of their last 10 shots. Perimeter defense was something head coach Lamont Paris said the team stressed in practice.
“I thought it was mission accomplished on one thing that we had really emphasized in this game,” Paris said. “To try and do a better job guarding the ball and to see what that would look like."
By the 5:50 mark of the half, clean defense had helped the Gamecocks outnumber Presbyterian 11-2 in free throw attempts. By 2:51, that total was up to 18 for South Carolina.
A streak of six straight misses by the Gamecocks ended when Polk hit his third three of the half, boosting his point total to nine. On just three shot attempts, he led the team in scoring at halftime. Aside from Polk, the team was shooting 1/11 from beyond the arc halfway through the game.
In his first career start, Assemian led the way at half with seven rebounds, six of them being offensive. The team had 9 second chance points in the first 20 minutes of play.
“I have the fewest amount of surprises based on what he does,” Paris said. “Cloning for humans hasn't really gone into effect, but it looked like there were three of him out there."
Ellis led the team’s second half charge that saw a 20-5 run in the Gamecocks' favor to start the period. Ellis notched 6 points and a key assist on a three by senior guard Mike Sharavjamts in the stretch. Sharavjamts led the team in scoring with 13 on the night.
Nine minutes into the second period, Polk nailed his fourth 3-pointer, boosting his total to 12 points on just four attempts. The shot would give way to a 3-pointer by graduate guard Myles Stute that would mark seven straight makes by the team.
Ellis ended his night with 9 points, five assists, and two rebounds. His five assists lead the team, and his plus-minus of 21 was second to only Sharavjamts.
Assemian finished the game as the team’s leading rebounder with eight total, along with 5 points. The forward talked about his connection with the fellow freshman who played significant minutes in the win.
“We’re really tight off the court,” Assemian said. “It helps us translate it on the court as well.”
South Carolina’s 36 points off the bench made up 44% of their total on the night. The team’s leaders in 3-pointers, assists and rebounds were all true freshmen.
“I love our freshman class,” Paris said. “I’m excited about those guys and their ability to impact us.”
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will host Radford on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina will look to advance to 5-0 all-time against the Highlanders and to 4-0 on the season.