Duane Notice, South Carolina Take Down #9-Ranked Iowa State
BROOKLYN, NY–Duane Notice and the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the #9 ranked Iowa State Cyclones 64-60 on a neutral playing field at Barclays Center. ISU kept it close all game but the Gamecocks were in control entirely, picking up their seventh straight win.
“I just want to do what I can to help my team in any way which is play through the system, and I felt that our defense created a lot of our points in the first half,” said Notice.
“It’s a heck of a win for our program and players, we want them to embrace it, but at the same time we have Florida Wednesday,” explained SC Head Coach Frank Martin.
“We can’t get overjoyed and be celebrating in January because we have 18 conference (SEC) games coming, one right after another.”
SC’s Tyrone Johnson had a warm welcome as a New Jersey native, but the rest of South Carolina did not. The booing echoed from the majority Iowa State fan base in the arena, the Gamecocks stuck it to those fans by coming out with a 15-4 lead in the opening five minutes.
For Duane Notice it didn’t matter where the venue was, or how the fans felt, he came in and took care of business. Notice registered a game high 15 points to go with his six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
He was a leader in multiple categories.
Notice and Sindarius Thornwell will be big pieces for the Gamecocks in the next 18 games against SEC opponents.
South Carolina set the tone defensively from the tip, altering three consecutive possessions for Iowa State. They ran them off the three point line and forced tough shots.
This was Iowa State’s worst shooting performance from the perimeter, going 1-18 and that one shot being made by Naz Long in the final 48 seconds to make it 63-60 Carolina.
Notice did a stellar job anticipating the pass and getting in the lane for steals, finishing with three of those.
Iowa State Head Coach, Fred Hoiberg, mentioned after the loss “there’a an absolute pit in my stomach and everybody in that changeroom.”
“They were very physical and tough, which is the norm from Frank Martin’s teams. They came out and threw the first punch to take control,” continued Coach Hoiberg.
After the first five minutes of the half, four out of five South Carolina starters had got on the board. For Iowa State they only had six points, four from Monte Morris and two off of a tough reverse finish by Naz Long.
Georges Niang took a while to get going, getting his first two points at the free throw line at the 5:02 mark.
Carolina’s bigs were in foul trouble, but it was worth it because Niang went 1-7 in the first half. ISU was defused without production from their leading scorer.
On the defensive end Sindarius Thornwell made it a rough outing for another of the Cylones leading scorers, Bryce Dejean-Jones, holding him to three points in the contest.
Coach Martin referred to confidence several times, labeling this trait as a key focus for them to be successful in SEC play.
Jameel McKay made it tough for South Carolina big man Laimonas Chatkevicius to be effective whether in low post position or outside. He denied the entry pass and closed out quickly on shot attempts, effecting nearly every possession in one way or another.
Half court defense was not the issue for ISU, it was in transition that they were getting beat. Off of defensive boards and a made basket by the cyclones, the Gamecocks didn’t give them a chance to set up.
The Cyclones could not hold the lead for more than 30 seconds, the biggest one that they had was by two.
Naz Long hit the first three pointer of the game for his team after the they went 0-15 from deep. The team was 1-18 from the perimeter in the game.
After a hot streak from deep in the last seven games, Long went cold in Brooklyn.
Looking ahead, both teams will begin conference play, South Carolina on the seventh of January against Florida and Iowa State on the sixth against Oklahoma State.
