Martin: Gamecocks showed courage in stunning OT road win

Freshman Jamall Gregory’s thunderous dunk was not the first basket in South Carolina’s regulation closing 11-0 run that forced overtime in last night’s 77-74 victory at Ole Miss, but it may have been the most important.

Certainly, the most electrifying.

Gregory’s dunk with 3:13 remaining cut the Rebels’ lead to 66-59, and strengthened the Gamecocks’ resolve for a RPI-boosting comeback road win that improved their impressive record to 17-1.

“Down the stretch we got aggressive. Jamall Gregory driving that ball where he dunked gave everybody else some courage to drive the zone,” USC coach Frank Martin said in his post-game interview on the South Carolina IMG Network. “That’s all we spoke about on the bench during the game – drive the ball. Finally, we got some people driving. It created some fouls and we got to the line. Give us credit for making some free throws. We figured out a way to close out the game.”

The Gamecocks made 7-of-8 free throws in the final eight minutes of regulation and 6-of-7 free throws in overtime. Conversely, Ole Miss was 0-for-4 at the free throw line in the final three minutes, aiding USC’s comeback hopes.

Gregory contributed in other ways besides the dunk, spending a career-high 18 minutes on the court. He grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists. Most importantly, USC was a staggering plus-25 when he was on the court.

Martin inserted Gregory, a 6-foot-2 guard from Washington, D.C., into the game after Marcus Stroman, P.J. Dozier and Justin McKie struggled. The trio was a combined 2-of-9 from the floor with seven turnovers.

So, into the game went Gregory and he delivered the moment that changed the complexion of the contest.

“We gave Jamall a chance. Give him credit. That dribble drive dunk started giving our guys life,” Martin said. “He made two big-time free throws when we had to have them. Then he got five defensive rebounds. When one of your guards has that many defensive rebounds, it’s a plus.”

With Sindarius Thornwell struggling to get anything going offensively (very forgettable 1-of-15 from the floor and 3-8 FT; 5 total points), Michael Carrera stepped up late in the game, scoring USC’s final five points in overtime. He finished with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, adding nine rebounds as he barely missed a double-double.

“Sindarius wasn’t very good tonight, it wasn’t one of his better games,” Martin said. “I can tell when the game starts whether Sindarius is going to have a good game offensively or not with his body. Tonight, he looked rigid and stiff and flat-footed. He couldn’t make a shot.

“But he and Michael give us an unbelievable amount of courage and strength that permeates to other guys. They never gave in to the situations of the game. Michael is a warrior. If you tell me I have to go into a hole somewhere, I’m taking Michael Carrera with me.”

Laimonas Chatkevicius took advantage of the absence of one of Ole Miss’ best big men by recording a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. His layup with 3:53 left jumpstarted USC’s game-changing 11-0 surge at the end of regulation. He also drained two key free throws with 2:29 left to cut the deficit to five points (66-61).

“He played better,” Martin said. “He was active, he was trying. There are some plays out there that he has to make. Tonight he played with some enthusiasm, some energy. I wanted him to play more aggressively in the post, so we can throw it inside against the zone. With Laimonas, it continues to be one step at a time. He has gotten so much better than where he used to be, so we have to stay patient with him. His teammates love it when he plays well because they know how hard he has worked.”

The main talking point afterwards was how USC had ‘stolen’ a key road win from the Rebels in stunning fashion with nine minutes of solid basketball at the end of regulation and overtime overcoming 36 minutes of mediocre play.

“We weren’t great tonight, we really weren’t,” Martin said. “We played well enough to win, I guess. We showed a lot of courage and never gave in. Those are the positives. But we weren’t very efficient with our defense. I thought our defense was sloppy. I thought we were too consumed with (Ole Miss leading scorer) Stefan Moody. That’s my fault. Everybody else got caught standing around watching (on defense).”

For the Gamecocks, the late game performance and ultimate outcome against Ole Miss represented a 180-degree difference from last Wednesday’s nightmare at Alabama when USC suffered its only loss of the season.

“It’s a complete difference between today and last week at Alabama,” Martin said. “Last week, we didn’t play well and had no life. We just wanted the game to get over with. Tonight, our guys were engaged and enthused. They never shut up.

“They continued to encourage each other during every timeout. We never once had a quiet timeout. That’s why today we were able to come back and figure out a way to win and last week we let the game get away from us.”