The South Carolina men's basketball team won its third game in a row on Saturday, beating LSU 77-75. The Gamecocks were propelled by a dominant 33 point performance from junior guard Jermaine Couisnard.
Early in the first half, South Carolina struggled with turnovers and ended the game with a total of 20. Despite this, the defense in the second half put a stop to LSU's shooting and allowed the Gamecocks to get back in the game.
"I thought our defense was really good today," head coach Frank Martin said. "Our ability to neutralize what they were trying to do, I thought, was really good."
Over the course of the game, South Carolina began to limit the shots that were taken by the LSU offense. In the first half, LSU was shooting 45.7 percent off of 48 attempts compared to the 42 percent from 35 attempts in the second half.
As for the offense, Couisnard dominated every aspect possible during a game that saw him set a new career-high in points.
"My teammates, I feel like they believed in," Couisnard said. "They just kept telling me to be aggressive, be aggressive."
Couisnard shot 12-18 from the field and hit five of his 10 three point attempts. He also had three steals and three assists.
"He's a great dude," Martin said. "He's tough as nails, he's loyal as the day is long and that's why I''ve been in his corner."
Senior guard Erik Stevenson also had a productive game for the Gamecocks. Stevenson scored 15 points and was perfect on free throws.
"I just feed off the crowds energy," Stevenson said. "Shoutout to the Cockpit and the rest of the people that came tonight ... it was big-time."
Saturday's game was part of a Legends Weekend for South Carolina, honoring the players who won the 1971 ACC championship and the 1997 SEC championship. South Carolina also hosted GG Jackson, the No.1 recruit in the class of 2023, for an official visit.
"It feels good to win three in a row," Martin said. "We need momentum to get our fans to come help us."
South Carolina moves to 16-10 on the year and 7-7 in the SEC. The team will try and continue its win streak next Wednesday when they match up against Mississippi State. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m and will be available to watch on SEC Network.