Thornwell enters game with 2-consecutive games over 20 points
The South Carolina men’s basketball team’s 0-5 start to SEC play has left many in the program grasping at straws for a way to end the skid.
The high tensions even led to a Frank Martin mid-game tirade directed at senior guard Brenton Williams during last Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss. But the coach has since apologized for the incident, and with a daunting trip to Missouri next on the schedule, Martin is doing his best the keep the Gamecocks’ early struggles in perspective.
“If I come in with a gloom and doom, then I can’t expect an 18-year-old to be excited about what they’re doing,” Martin said. “I don’t like losing. I don’t make any secrets about that. But I don’t dwell on it either.”
When South Carolina (7-11, 0-5 SEC) travels to the other Columbia to face the Missouri Tigers, the team will do so on the heels of a demoralizing 97-76 loss at Georgia Wednesday night. In the three games prior to that most recent loss, the Gamecocks average margin of defeat was just four.
Despite the disappointing start to conference action, players like sophomore forward Laimonas Chatkevicius insist there is no lack of bravado in the South Carolina locker room.
“Before every game in the SEC conference I was going into the game really confident about our team,” Chatkevicius said. “And the team is still hungry for that win.”
Although a win over Missouri looks to be a tall order on paper, as the Tigers have a 14-4 record and are the third-best rebounding team in the conference, there are several reasons for the Gamecocks to have a cautious optimism.
Despite having the second-best overall record in the SEC, Missouri is just 2-3 in conference and sits at 10th in the standings. The Tigers are also heading into the Saturday’s matchup off of a tough 77-71 loss at LSU.
As South Carolina searches for its elusive first SEC victory against seemingly stout competition, Martin isn’t pressing the panic button quite yet.
“I always figure out a way to have patience, because we’re dealing with young people,” Martin said. “For us to get where we want to be, patience is a key word.”
What looks to be a key to victory for the Gamecocks on Saturday is containing the SEC’s leading scorer, guard Jabari Brown.
Brown is averaging 19.3 points per game and is coming off a 28-point performance against LSU. But South Carolina has its own hot hand in guard Sindarius Thornwell. The freshman has turned in consecutive 20-plus-point games, including a career high 26 in his last outing against Georgia.
In accordance with Thornwell’s impressive stat-line as of late, Chatkevicius assures that South Carolina’s troubles are not for lack of effort.
“We keep trying,” Chatkevicius said. “In practice, before every game, those two days preparing for the game, we really are doing great. Everybody’s trying their best to prepare for the game.”
Saturday’s game against the Tigers will tip-off at Mizzou Arena at 4:00 p.m. and will air nationally on ESPN3.
While a win in conference would come as a massive relief for a floundering men’s basketball program, Martin recognizes that, with his young team of seven freshmen, everything is a learning process.
“We’re in a place where, if we can continue to fix and build, we can win,” Martin said. “And I get excited about that, so I want to do my job, and I come in and I try to echo that to the players.”