It's been a decade since South Carolina played in the NCAA tournament. It's a problem the school hired Frank Martin away from Kansas State two years ago to fix.
After plenty of losses in the SEC in his first two seasons and several eyebrow raising setbacks earlier this season, Martin finally has some tangible evidence he has the Gamecocks heading in the right direction. At the very least, it's something to build on.
South Carolina extended its winning streak to seven games by earning its first victory over a ranked opponent this season on Saturday at Barclays Center, beating No. 9 Iowa State 64-60.
Martin came into the season with concerns about depth and production in the frontcourt and that continues to be problematic, but the Gamecocks backcourt is strong and carried the team against the Cyclones. Duane Notice, Tyrone Johnson and Sindarius Thornwell each had more rebounds than starting forwards Demetrius Henry and Laimonas Chatkevicius. USc outrebounded the Cyclones 42-34, helping make up for 20 turnovers.
The three USC guards combined to score 41 of the Gamecocks' 64 points in what could be a turning point for Martin's rebuilding efforts. It is the first time South Carolina has beaten a top-10 team since 2010. Those South Carolina guards also played a part in limiting Iowa State to 1-for-18 shooting behind the 3-point line.
Martin still needs to get more out of his big men going forward and his team will certainly be tested in the paint as it gets into conference play in the coming weeks, but beating a top-10 Iowa State team proves South Carolina is capable of knocking off some of the conference opponents that have bullied it in recent seasons.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
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