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.
Winning and basketball have not gone hand-in-hand at South Carolina recently. Darrin Horn's final three teams went 13-35 in SEC play, including a last-place, 2-14 finish in 2012, while Martin's first three teams went 4-14, 5-13 and 6-12 in league contests.
Sometimes three years can be it for a coach should significant improvement not be shown, but Martin had no worries entering this season.
"There were struggles before I got here, so you can expect struggles when you arrive," he said. "There can be struggles when you arrive in a successful program, so I never worried about getting to my fourth year. I'm thankful that I get the opportunity and privilege to work at a university that believed in me, but I don't ever worry about failure.
"I worry about doing my job and helping young people become better."
South Carolina showed life last season with wins over Clemson, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, but the Gamecocks stumbled to a 1-6 league start and struggled to regroup. The top five scorers on this year's team - Michael Carrera (14.1 points per game), Sindari Thornwell (12.7), Duane Notice (10.9), Mindaugas Kacinas (10.5) and Laimonas Chatkevicious (9.8) - are all upperclassmen.
Freshman guard P.J. Dozier, South Carolina's first McDonald's All-American in more than a decade, is next with 7.3 points per contest.
"They all seem to play their roles very willingly, and they all seem to play very close to their capabilities," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "I don't know that they have any top-10 NBA draft picks, but they've got of bunch of guys who are playing hard and tough and together. He's got seniors playing at the best of their careers, and that's what makes them a really good team."
South Carolina would be more recognized nationally were it not for lopsided losses to Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, as well as a schedule that ranks 131st nationally. The Gamecocks left the state twice before league play, sweeping DePaul, Hofstra and Tulsa to win the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam and topping St. John's in Connecticut.
Even Martin admitted his team caught a break this past Saturday because Texas A&M had a quick turnaround from Thursday night's loss at Vanderbilt, but there is nothing gentle about the immediate challenge.
"This is a big week coming up for South Carolina basketball," Martin said. "LSU is playing the best basketball they've played all year, and Kentucky, as always, is playing at an unbelievable level."
Where they stand
ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi still has five SEC teams in the latest projected NCAA bracket released Monday, with Texas A&M as a No. 3 seed, Kentucky a No. 4, Florida and South Carolina each a No. 7, and LSU a No. 10. Lunardi has Kentucky opening against UTC, a projected No. 13 seed.
Vanderbilt, whose erratic season continued last week with a win over Texas A&M and a loss to Ole Miss, is the first team among Lunardi's "First Four Out."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.