Gamecocks left out in the NCAA cold, host High Point Tuesday in NIT
Three painful losses to Georgia - the final two by a combined three points – as well as head scratching road setbacks at Mississippi State and Missouri denied South Carolina its first NCAA Tournament berth in 12 years when the bracket was revealed Sunday evening.
But the night ended on a positive note when the Gamecocks were selected as a No. 1 seed for the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and will host High Point Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena.
*** Photo gallery from the Selection Watch Party by Chris Gillespie ***
Two days ago, the Gamecocks looked like a sure thing to get into the 68-team field, even being seeded as high as No. 8 by some analysts. But then USC lost to Georgia, 65-64, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, leading nearly the entire way until a late Georgia basket tied the score and a loose ball foul on USC allowed the Bulldogs to sink the winning free throw with less than three seconds remaining.
How close was it? Temple and Vanderbilt, ranked No. 59 and 61 in the last NCAA RPI revealed before the bracket was disclosed, got at-large berths. The Gamecocks were No. 65, one spot behind Georgia.
In addition, Michigan (#57) and Tulsa (#58) got berths ahead of the Gamecocks, which beat the Hurricane in the Paradise Jam in November. Michigan and Tulsa square off in the First Four in Dayton.
The final stake (insult) through the heart? Syracuse (19-13) at No. 71 in the RPI got an at-large berth ahead of three SEC teams ranked higher than the Orange.
In the end, finishing 24-8 overall and 11-7 in the SEC wasn't good enough for USC to receive an NCAA bid.
"When you set a school record for wins in its history and you win nine games away from home and you're four games over .500 in a BCS league and that's not good enough, it's not good enough," USC head coach Frank Martin said. "Next year, we have to win 25 games and win 12 league games. It's disappointing, but what can we do?"
Martin acknowledged the Gamecocks were confident they "had done enough" to get into the NCAA Tournament when they beat Arkansas in Fayetteville in the final regular season game. Six days later, USC lost an "unbelievably hard game" to Georgia in the SEC Tournament with their best player, First Team All-SEC forward Michael Carrera, on the bench with a hip injury.
"That was obviously held against us," Martin said. "Maybe we should try to get our guys hurt early in the season rather than the final part. Our guys should deal with injuries in November and December, so when we lose it's not held against us.
"We were real optimistic after beating Arkansas. After losing to Georgia, I just thought our seed wouldn't be as good as I thought it would be. I'm disheartened for our players and our fans. But not being in the NCAA Tournament will never define how special our seniors were and what they mean to me. My empty feeling is for those guys because they won't get a chance to do it again."
Martin has criticized the lack of respect given the SEC nationally, and that appears to have manifested itself against Sunday.
"Our league is real good, we have unbelievable coaches," Martin said. "It the hardest league in the country to win on the road. But all I can do is worry about our team, our program, our players. I couldn't have asked our guys to have done any more than what they did (four) years into our program."
Now the Gamecocks prepare for High Point, whose coach, Scott Cherry, was a USC assistant during Darrin Horn's first season in Columbia in 2008-09. High Point was the Big South regular season champion and received an automatic bid to the NIT since they did not get an at-large berth into the NCAAs.
"Our guys are down right now and it's my job to figure out a way to get them excited for an opportunity they haven't had since they've been here, if we're granted that opportunity," Martin said. "Heck, who knows? We might get left out of that one too."
Martin said the Gamecocks would accept an invitation to the NIT.
"Our guys have pride," Martin said. "It's not like we're above the opportunity to play. We're still in the building stages. We need the opportunity to play in the post-season. It's the next step for our team and our guys to learn and grow from."
The strength of USC's non-conference schedule was criticized by analysts, but Martin insisted the slate passed SEC scrutiny in the summer. However, several non-conference opponents had key players transfer last summer subsequent to the contracts being signed and finished with worse records than expected.
