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basketball Edit

Gamecocks still in thick of SEC race as they prepare to face Missouri

Frank Martin gives instructions to P.J. Dozier
Frank Martin gives instructions to P.J. Dozier

Easily forgotten in the angst over South Carolina’s whipping at the hands of Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena is this reality – the Gamecocks are still heavily involved in the SEC regular season championship race.

USC (21-4 overall, 8-4 in SEC) trails co-leaders Kentucky and LSU (both 9-3) by one game with six conference games remaining. However, nipping at the Gamecocks’ heels are four teams with identical 7-5 league marks (Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt).

Next up for USC is Tuesday night’s road test at Missouri (7 p.m., SEC Network), a team sitting at the bottom of the conference standings with a 2-10 record yet coming off Saturday’s 75-64 home win over Tennessee.

Frank Martin sympathizes with Missouri head coach Kim Anderson, who inherited a mess from former Tigers head coach Frank Haith. When Martin looks at Mizzou, he sees a program comparable to his first two years at South Carolina when the Gamecocks were 28-38 overall, 9-27 in the SEC.

“I’ve been in Kim’s shoes,” Martin said Monday during his weekly presser. “He should to be credited and so too his kids. They have continued to fight and fight and play the game the right way. They have not wilted. They’re coming off a win at home and they gave us everything we wanted the first time around. It’s another hard challenge on our hands. It’s a road game, league play in mid-February.”

Anderson is 18-39 in two seasons at Missouri, and the program has admitted major violations dating back to 2011 when Haith was guiding the program. The school instituted a post-season ban, so the Tigers will not participate in the SEC Tournament in Nashville next month.

The NCAA is still investigating, though. Anderson contends he was not aware of the situation when he was hired before the 2014-15 season.

Nonetheless, Missouri has sought to sidestep the distractions caused by the sanctions and succeeded with their second SEC win of the season against Tennessee. Overall, though, Anderson has endured another frustrating season in the ‘other’ Columbia.

“We lived it, that’s who we were a couple of years ago,” Martin said. “We were so young and playing a lot of close games, but couldn’t figure out a way to win. Yet, you don’t go away. That’s a sign something is getting built the right way. I like their team a lot.”

In the previous meeting between USC and Missouri on Jan. 16, Sindarius Thornwell scored 22 points and dished out four assists to lead the Gamecocks to an 81-72 victory at Colonial Life Arena.

Tuesday’s game marks the second time USC has faced a rematch with an SEC team. Previously, the Gamecocks avenged a blowout loss at Alabama in mid-January with a 78-64 win over the Crimson Tide on Jan. 30. Later, USC faces rematches with Tennessee, Mississippi State and Georgia.

“You have to study tape and see what the other team tried to do to bother you,” Martin said. “And you have to see what worked and didn’t work for your team. You have to make subtle adjustments. In conference play, most games come down to the last three or four minutes. When you get there, you’re trying to close out a game.

“Points you score or prevent from a subtle adjustment might be the difference in the game. That’s how close these games are. Anytime you have a rematch, you know the other team is going to adjust some things from the first time because both teams are familiar with each other. Then the game becomes a discipline of wills to see who can execute better.”

A key storyline, of course, for Tuesday night’s game is how the Gamecocks respond to being walloped by Kentucky by 27 points at home in front of a sell-out crowd.

Martin believes the experienced Gamecocks should be able to bounce back from the adversity.

“The DNA, the fabric of our locker room, hasn’t fallen apart in the past and I don’t anticipate it falling apart now,” Martin said. “Looking at this year, we have rebounded from poor games fairly well. Will that continue? We’ll find out as far as the scoreboard goes. In terms of our locker room, the leadership on our team remains strong. It’s something I trust in.”

SEC SCHEDULE (Feb. 16-18)

South Carolina at Missouri, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Vanderbilt at Miss. State, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)

Florida at Georgia, 9 p.m. (ESPN)

Ole Miss at Texas A&M, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

Auburn at Arkansas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)(2/17)

Alabama at LSU, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)(2/17)

Tennessee at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN)(2/18)

CURRENT SEC STANDINGS: Kentucky 9-3, LSU 9-3, South Carolina 8-4, Florida 7-5, Georgia 7-5, Texas A&M 7-5, Vanderbilt 7-5, Alabama 6-6, Ole Miss 6-6, Arkansas 5-7, Tennessee 5-7, Auburn 3-9, Miss. State 3-9, Missouri 2-10.

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