South Carolina has played Kentucky already, and lost to them 67-58 on January 22nd. Last season, the Gamecocks went 1-1 against the Wildcats. Over four years, South Carolina has gone 3-6 against Kentucky, and 1-3 at Rupp Arena. For USC to beat UK in “Big Blue” country it will take a mighty effort from South Carolina combined with a poor showing from Coach Cal’s boys.
The Gamecocks have an overall 13-11 record as well as 4-7 in the SEC with a RPI at 117. They look to improve against a very talented UK team that is 18-7 overall, 6-5 in SEC and have a RPI of 17. USC is 1-5 versus ranked teams this season. Can they make it 2-5?
Here is a comparison of the two teams:
| PPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% | RPG | ORPG | DRPG | APG | TPG | SPG | BPG | FPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
UK | 77.2 | 46.3 | 71.0 | 39.9 | 38.2 | 12.0 | 26.2 | 13.0 | 11.4 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 16.2 |
 |
USC | 69.1 | 40.7 | 63.8 | 32.9 | 38.4 | 14.4 | 24.0 | 11.3 | 14.0 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 18.8 |
 |
UK Opps | 64.0 | 39.0 | 72.0 | 34.0 | 33.4 | 11.0 | 22.4 | 11.2 | 12.8 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 18.4 |
|
USC Opps | 68.5 | 42.1 | 67.3 | 33.8 | 37.8 | 12.6 | 25.1 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 6.1 | 3.3 | 16.6 |
For USC to win they must do the following three things –
1. Attack the basket. USC’s guards must be aggressive in getting to the basket and the “bigs” must attack the rebounds.
2. Play Smart D. USC must play tough defense and force UK to make mistakes.
3. Play with urgency. USC needs to win. No room for loses if the idea of postseason play is to live.
The tip-off is at 4:00EST and it will be televised on SEC Network.
I want to think USC wins this game, I do but will they…you tell me….I can see, given USC’s habit of poor shooting, this game getting out of hand for Carolina. UK by 12 sounds about right as USC should fight back but as normal the hole will be to deep.
