The South Carolna Gamecocks play host to the Florida Gators in Columbia tonight and will try to escape the Colonial Center with a win. Can the Gamecocks beat the Gators like they did on January 15th? If so, it will take USC point guard Bruce Ellington and forward/center Sam Muldrow playing “above the rim.” Putting it straight it will take a huge team effort from the inside-out in beating Florida, meaning the USC interior has to play big while the three ball must fall for Carolina.
Here are some more thoughts on the game…
The Gators come in “best in the SEC” and having a RPI at 14 versus USC’s RPI that sits at 102. Last year, the Gamecocks put up a record of 1-1 on the Gators. In four seasons, South Carolina has a record of 3-6 against Florida, including 2-2 at home.
USC must shut down UF’s Walker and Macklin, in my view these two can not have more that 20 points between them, while limiting Boynton’s penetration and getting him to have 5+ turnovers. Do that while winning the rebounding war and USC will win. If Ellington and Muldrow “play quiet” then it will be a long night at home. I hope I am wrong when I feel that UF wins by score in the arena of 73-63. I feel the Gators are on a charge and they beat a very good UK easily it seemed. I would love to see USC upset the UF apple cart as it will help the postseason chance.
Here is a comparison of the two teams:
| PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | ORPG | DRPG | APG | TPG | SPG | BPG | FPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
UF | 71.0 | 45.3 | 65.5 | 33.6 | 38.9 | 13.6 | 25.3 | 14.0 | 12.6 | 6.2 | 4.1 | 14.3 |
 |
USC | 70.3 | 41.5 | 63.1 | 33.6 | 39.0 | 14.4 | 24.6 | 11.6 | 14.2 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 18.8 |
 |
UF Opps | 62.0 | 41.3 | 65.9 | 32.4 | 32.1 | 10.6 | 21.6 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 6.1 | 3.4 | 18.6 |
 |
USC Opps | 68.2 | 41.3 | 68.0 | 33.0 | 37.5 | 12.7 | 24.9 | 12.6 | 14.9 | 6.1 | 3.4 | 17.0 |
