C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina beat Texas A&M 74-54 to improve to 14-9, 6-4 in the SEC. They travel to Georgia for a 6:30 p.m. tip Wednesday.
--Like Missouri and Vandy, this isn't a game that will pop up on a screen about the Gamecocks' resume if pundits are talking about them in March, but it keeps tournament hopes alive in what was essentially a must-win game. They dominated a worse team and looked like a tourney team (at times) doing it. Now comes a bigger test against Georgia Wednesday.
--After about a sluggish a start as you could get, the Gamecocks put together the strongest close to a half as they've had all season. They ended the half on a 41-16 run and held Texas A&M to just 4-for-22 shooting after the Aggies scored the first nine points of the game on 3-for-6 shooting. Jermaine Couisnard looked every bit as good as he has this season, including hitting a
--After a lethargic game against Ole Miss, South Carolina looked as energetic as I've seen them since probably the Auburn game. They were getting to loose balls, hauling in rebounds and drawing offensive fouls. This team looked a lot better from an energy standpoint with Justin Minaya on the bench.
--Rebounding was an issue against Ole Miss and it wasn't against the Aggies. South Carolina out-rebounded A&M by three and seemed to get really important boards on the offensive glass. They'd finish with 11 on the offensive glass and seven second-chance points.
--The half court offense has gotten a lot better as the season's gone on but this team's at its best playing fast and getting out in transition. They had a few alley-oops and just seem to function better when they're out and running. It's probably not a coincide they had more of those opportunities with Hannibal and Couisnard playing a lot of minutes in the back court. Those two guys create a lot of loose ball chance. It's not going to end up mattering a whole lot, but Jair Bolden also finished with XX steals in the game, which is good for his confidence.
--After the season's worst defensive performance, the Gamecocks turned in arguably their best. They'd hold Texas A&M to just 54 points, only 45 of which came after the Aggies went up 9-0 early in the game. They'd hold them to just 27.3 percent shooting and 7-for-27.
--After a subpar performance against Ole Miss, AJ Lawson looked like the aggressive player he'd been in the few weeks prior to that. He was unafraid to take shots, hitting five of his nine from the field including going 4-for-7 from three. He just looked more aggressive when he was on the court. When he's aggressive, it's no secret why the Gamecocks play well.
--Needing some park from the four spot without Minaya, they got good minutes from Alanzo Frink and Wildens Leveque. Both guys played really well against Josh Nebo and just played with an aggression that had been in consistent at times this year. Frink got the start and did a good job with the minutes he was given.
--Like Missouri and Vandy, this isn't a game that will pop up on a screen about the Gamecocks' resume if pundits are talking about them in March, but it keeps tournament hopes alive in what was essentially a must-win game. They dominated a worse team and looked like a tourney team (at times) doing it. Now comes a bigger test against Georgia Wednesday.
--After about a sluggish a start as you could get, the Gamecocks put together the strongest close to a half as they've had all season. They ended the half on a 41-16 run and held Texas A&M to just 4-for-22 shooting after the Aggies scored the first nine points of the game on 3-for-6 shooting. Jermaine Couisnard looked every bit as good as he has this season, including hitting a
--After a lethargic game against Ole Miss, South Carolina looked as energetic as I've seen them since probably the Auburn game. They were getting to loose balls, hauling in rebounds and drawing offensive fouls. This team looked a lot better from an energy standpoint with Justin Minaya on the bench.
--Rebounding was an issue against Ole Miss and it wasn't against the Aggies. South Carolina out-rebounded A&M by three and seemed to get really important boards on the offensive glass. They'd finish with 11 on the offensive glass and seven second-chance points.
--The half court offense has gotten a lot better as the season's gone on but this team's at its best playing fast and getting out in transition. They had a few alley-oops and just seem to function better when they're out and running. It's probably not a coincide they had more of those opportunities with Hannibal and Couisnard playing a lot of minutes in the back court. Those two guys create a lot of loose ball chance. It's not going to end up mattering a whole lot, but Jair Bolden also finished with XX steals in the game, which is good for his confidence.
--After the season's worst defensive performance, the Gamecocks turned in arguably their best. They'd hold Texas A&M to just 54 points, only 45 of which came after the Aggies went up 9-0 early in the game. They'd hold them to just 27.3 percent shooting and 7-for-27.
--After a subpar performance against Ole Miss, AJ Lawson looked like the aggressive player he'd been in the few weeks prior to that. He was unafraid to take shots, hitting five of his nine from the field including going 4-for-7 from three. He just looked more aggressive when he was on the court. When he's aggressive, it's no secret why the Gamecocks play well.
--Needing some park from the four spot without Minaya, they got good minutes from Alanzo Frink and Wildens Leveque. Both guys played really well against Josh Nebo and just played with an aggression that had been in consistent at times this year. Frink got the start and did a good job with the minutes he was given.
