South Carolina was picked to finish seventh in the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball race before the season tipped off, but the Gamecocks are the first league team to reach 20 wins.
Though it doesn’t reserve an NCAA tournament spot just yet for Frank Martin’s fourth team in Columbia, posting 20 wins is a gargantuan jump for a program that went 15-39 in league games the past three seasons. South Carolina is 20-3 overall and 7-3 in SEC play following Saturday’s 81-78 upset triumph at Texas A&M, and the Gamecocks could all but punch their NCAA ticket with wins at home this week against LSU (15-8, 8-2) and Kentucky (17-6, 7-3).
“We’re one of something like three our four teams in the country that have won 20 games this year, so obviously we’ve done something right,” Martin said Monday, “but that wasn’t our goal or what we get excited about. It’s awesome and a great reward, and when we reflect on where we’re at compared to where we’ve been – it took us almost two full years to win 20 games.
“To win 20 games with a whole month of basketball left is a credit to our kids, and it’s a little easier to motivate guys to stay the course when you’re consistently winning.”
That group of 20-win teams includes the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, with the Mocs reaching the mark by whipping Wofford in Southern Conference play last Thursday at McKenzie Arena.