Thornwell gets 24 points, 11 rebounds in losing effort
The final 10 seconds of South Carolina’s SEC clash with Ole Miss played out like the season finale of a primetime drama.
After intercepting a Rebel inbounds pass — down by a point with six seconds to go and calling a timeout — South Carolina had the ball with just 1.8 seconds remaining. But coach Frank Martin’s three timeouts-worth of instruction proved not to be enough in the end, as freshman guard Sindarius Thornwell’s improbable final shot attempt would fall short and the Gamecocks would ultimately lose to Ole Miss 75-74.
“I think I should’ve popped more towards the rim, instead of out, to get a better shot,” Thornwell said. “That’s really about it.”
Martin likes to say that basketball is a game of runs, and Saturday’s contest proved him right for that day at least.
The Gamecocks (7-10, 0-4 SEC) looked to be in control for the bulk of the first half, entering the locker room with a double-digit lead. But Ole Miss wouldn’t go away easily, storming back in the second half to cut the lead to one in under four minutes.
The advantage would shift from one team to the other for the remainder of the game until South Carolina’s disappointing final shot.
Despite a loss that will no doubt be tough to swallow for the Gamecocks, Thornwell said he and his teammates are not discouraged by their 0-4 start to SEC play.
“It’s not blowouts. So it shows that we have a chance,” he said. “We have games right there, we just have to learn how to finish and that’s just, we’re going to have to grow up.”
In South Carolina’s last three games against LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss on Saturday, the Gamecocks have lost by an average of four points.
Though the Gamecocks have been able to keep it close with three out of their four preliminary conference opponents, Martin thinks he is able to put his finger on at least one of the reasons the Gamecocks are finding so much trouble in the conference.
Rebounds have come at a premium in recent games, and the coach feels that South Carolina can’t start winning until it starts crashing the boards.
“We’ve had guys that have played four conference games and have yet to get a defensive rebound,” Martin said. “And if we don’t have guys change that, it’s going to be hard to help some of the guys that are really, really trying to do that.”
Thornwell did his best to heed his coach’s words Saturday, collecting a team-leading 11 rebounds to go with his game-high 24 points.
And with junior guard Tyrone Johnson out indefinitely after suffering a fractured foot against Texas A&M, Thornwell will need to replicate Saturday’s performance as often as he can if the Gamecocks hope to stay afloat in the conference.
“He’s been playing real well for us,” Martin said. “I’m not surprised he played well (Saturday).”
Thornwell leads the team in scoring after his performance against Ole Miss, averaging 12 points per game.
Leading up to Saturday’s contest, the focus was on slowing down the Rebels’ star guard Marshall Henderson. South Carolina was able to keep the controversial fifth-year senior in check for the most part in the first half, but Henderson broke free in the second to finish with 19 points. Ole Miss was paced by a breakout performance from Anthony Perez who turned in a team-high 22 points.
Regardless of how close the Gamecocks have been playing their opponents, they still sit at the bottom of the SEC standings and are yet to win a game in-conference. And the way Martin sees it, there are no moral victories at this point.
“I’m really sick and tired of losing,” Martin said. “I can’t emphasize that enough. We’ve got to grow up.”