South Carolina: post mortem

Posting has been admittedly thin lately.  I'm traveling for work.  In fact, tonight's game was the first home game I've missed in two years.  So hey, I hope it was Georgia fans that bought my tickets, and I hope they enjoyed their evening:

• I have complained here about the lack of big wins for Georgia (and for good reason), not just this season but over the past 4 or 5 seasons.  Tonight was a big one.  Is South Carolina really a top 25 team?  Their record would suggest so, but I'm skeptical.  However, it's a top 50 win over a likely tournament team, and I'll take it.  Now we hope the Gamecocks keep winning and we drop them again in Columbia.
• J.J. Frazier: onions.
• Yante Maten is locked in right now.  He has so much diversity in his game.  Post moves, jumpers, drives...and that's just on the offensive end.
• Some huge minutes for E'Torrion Wilridge.  He must have done something to get back in Fox's good graces.  I like how he's defending, and his scoring will come as he gets more and more court time.
• I like the more aggressive Kenny Gaines we saw tonight.  He's not a great finisher, but he's better when he mixes in some slashing and driving.  It keeps the defense honest.
• Nice tip KPG.  If you want to watch someone who plays hard, watch him.
• 9 blocked shots for each team.  Yowza.
• Nothing really jumps off the stat sheet, honestly.  Georgia out-rebounded South Carolina, which is always huge for a Mark Fox-coached team, and they turned the ball over less than the Gamecocks as well.
• I've said this before, but the potential in all four freshmen is evident.  There is reason for excitement, even if this season ends up falling a little short of expectations.
• If you've been watching SEC basketball for a few years, it's hard to believe Michael Carrera is as good as he is right now.  He was all effort, little skill until he started to develop last season.  Now he's a guy who could log minutes for any team in the country.  However, he has always run hot, and the Bulldogs showed that it's still possible to get in his head.
• In a lot of ways, South Carolina is what Georgia was supposed to be: a veteran-led team with some young talent grinding out wins.
• Mike Edwards needs to shoot 10,000 free throws this offseason.  It's a serious liability for a player whose game should see him at the free throw line quite a bit over the next few years.

South Carolina's schedule doesn't get any easier, and this may have been the start of the Gamecocks coming back to Earth a bit.  No matter.  Georgia has a big win, and we can all breathe for a few more days.