SC faces Marquette in first NCAA game since 2004

“We’re all focused on SC”, said Marquette freshman Markus Howard.

How they got here: The start was far more important than the finish, as SC rode an excellent nonconference performance, the play of star Sindarius Thornwell, and a stingy defense to a 20-5 start that included solid wins over teams such as Vermont, Syracuse, Michigan, and Monmouth.

The Gamecock players are looking forward to the tournament no matter where they play. “It has been a grinding five years”.

Reasons for optimism: Thornwell is excellent and has the chance to do some damage in his first NCAA tournament. And no one will be rooting harder for Coach K to win his NCAA record 91 tournament game than Wojo. “But on any one day in the NCAA Tournament, one team plays well, the other team doesn’t, anything can happen”. And with the way we’ve played this year, I think it gives our team the best opportunity to win.

SC now will have to try to make another run at the Final Four without Coates on the floor.

Q. Pretty much the same subject, but are there things that you took from the Duke program that you want to put the same stamp on your program, not necessarily the style of play, but in just the overall program?

Xavier’s J.P. Macura (55) fouls Marquette’s Jajuan Johnson (23) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, March 1, 2017, in Cincinnati.

By showing up, the Gamecocks ended a drought of 13 years without a Big Dance appearance that made getting here more of a chore that it would have been for teams accustomed to such trips.

“It makes it all worth it”, Wojciechowski said. “I remember my freshman year, it was not easy to get there, because it’s March Madness. We’re trending in the right direction”.

SC guard Sindarius Thornwell (0) attempts a shot against Arkansas forward Trey Thompson (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, in Columbia, S.C. Arkansas defeated SC 83-76. The Golden Eagles led the Big East in scoring with an average of 82.5 points per game while the Gamecocks ranked 28th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 64.5 per game.

“They share the ball so well”, Krzyzewski said of the Golden Eagles.

“They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country”, Wojciechowski said. “They’re just a team that plays really, really hard no matter who’s in front of them”. The degree to which they rely on both was evident during Thornwell’s month-long suspension through December and January – the previously undefeated Gamecocks dropped games to Seton Hall, Clemson, and Memphis as they went 3-3. The senior guard also leads the Bulldogs with 45 steals and is the team’s top 3-point shooter at 39.8 percent.

“We’ve played in that building”, Martin said. “We had won 22 games”, said the USC forward from 1971-74.

Wojciechowski said he hopes his ties to Duke (player and assistant coach) keeps some of the Blue Devils fans around to pull for his team. The 6-foot-4 Coates has missed three of the past five games since first suffering the injury in a 62-60 loss at Missouri on February 19.

“I saw Marquette at the Big East tournament, and I would think SC has a good chance to win”, Winters said.