And Then There Were Sixteen Minus Duke
In the end, seven points seemed like a thousand. South Carolina left the arena with a ticket to Madison Square Garden. Duke left with nothing but soiled kleenex and tear-stained eyes. And just when we thought Wisconsin was the big upset of the tournament, the Gamecocks came in and showed us what was what. It began with a flaccid first half from South Carolina. They hit seven field goals in total on twenty percent shooting, scoring 23 and going into halftime down by seven. But to South Carolina, seven points just seemed like seven points.
“I told the guys at halftime, someone’s got to have the courage and make shots,” South Carolina coach Frank Martin said.
And when the Gamecocks emerged from the locker room in the second half, they looked like a different team. Suddenly they were playing shut-down defense and hitting their shots in almost schizophrenic fashion. With 18:48 to go in the half, Duke’s Jayson Tatum missed a jumper. Sindarius Thornwell snagged the defensive board and the possession ended with a layup from PJ Dozier. That sparked a 16-6 run that gave South Carolina the lead.
For a while Duke hung in there, staving off the surging Gamecocks. But eventually, South Carolina’s stifling defense wore them down.
After the game Coach Krzyzewski said, “That’s the most physical team we’ve faced all year.”
When the buzzard sounded and the score read 88-81, it became clear that South Carolina just mounted the greatest scoring half against any Krzyzewski-coached Duke team in history. Thornwell finished with 24 points, Chris Silva scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and Duane Notice had 17 points, 14 in a 65-point second half, as South Carolina rallied from 10 points down for a second straight NCAA victory.
And to think before this weekend, the Gamecocks hadn’t won an NCAA tournament match in 44 years. The last year it happened was 1973. But here they were, playing some of the strongest basketball the tournament has seen.
We’re not satisfied,” said Thornwell after the game. “We’re in it, so why not win it?” Confident statement from a player who ended the night with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, one of his best showings of the season. Meanwhile, Duke leading scorer Luke Kennard had another less-than-exciting offensive outing, shooting 1 of 6 for 11 points before fouling out. Not to mention, the Blue Devils went 5 of 19 from three-point range in the second half. In the end, though, it may have been a season high 18 turnovers that did Duke in.
Whatever the case, it was a sad finish to a sad and trying season for Coach K and Company. For a team that started the year in the number one seed, then stumbled to nine losses in the regular season, then stormed through the ACC Tournament and found themselves Vegas faves going into the NCAAs, it was certainly an unexpected finish. But what else could we expect from a team that’s been so up and down this year?
With Villanova and Duke out of the picture, the East region looks a heck of a lot different. No. 8 Wisconsin will face No. 4 Florida, while No. 7 South Carolina faces No. 3 Baylor. The latter team nearly succumbed tonight to an upset bid, but managed to hang on for a win. Madison Square Garden will now play host to the biggest Cinderellas of this year’s tourney. While in the other regions, No. 1 Gonzaga faces No. 4 West Virginia, No. 11 Xavier faces No. 2 Arizona, No. 1 KU faces No. 4 Purdue (which, side note, should promise to be a big game as Bill Self’s squad has played dominant basketball in their first two games), No. 3 Oregon faces No. 7 Michigan, No. 1 UNC faces No. 4 Butler, and No. 2 Kentucky faces No. 3 UCLA. Those games kick off March 23 so teams have some time to rest up and head off to their respective locations for the next round of play.
Quick Predictions:
Wisconsin loses to Florida by 5.
South Carolina beats Baylor by 3.
Gonzaga wins by 6.
Xavier by 2.
Oregon beats Michigan by 3.
UNC beats Butler by 8.
Kentucky tops UCLA by 2.
And I refuse to predict the outcome of Kansas’s outing against Purdue, simply because I don’t want to jinx it in either direction. Let’s just say it will be a hard fought game. Stay tuned for more March Madness updates, and I hope South Carolina hasn’t shattered your hopes of winning the office tournament pool.
