Kentucky vs South Carolina......A Preview Rd 2

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs South Carolina 2/25/09
Wednesday at 7PM
TV: Raycom, ESPN Full Court
Stream: Yahoo.com

South Carolina

Location-Columbia, SC
Enrollment-27,065
Arena-18,000

Coach-Darrin Horn
Career Record-111-48 (69.8%) in 5 seasons
Career Record at South Carolina-This is his first season at SC

2007-08 Record-14-18
2007-08 SEC Record-5-11 (5th-East)

2008-09 Record-19-6
2008-09 SEC Record-8-4

South Carolina 89 Jacksonville State 76
South Carolina 86 Winthrop 63
South Carolina 75 USC Upstate 53
South Carolina 85 Gardner-Webb 70
Charleston 82 South Carolina 80
South Carolina 84 Princeton 58
South Carolina 72 Furman 48
South Carolina 90 North Carolina Central 43
South Carolina 80 Citadel 66
South Carolina 75 Presbyterian 56
Clemson 98 South Carolina 87
South Carolina 85 Baylor 84
South Carolina 78 Wofford 61
South Carolina 68 Auburn 56
LSU 85 South Carolina 68
Tennessee 82 South Carolina 79
South Carolina 70 Florida 69
South Carolina 82 Mississippi 71
South Carolina 86 Vanderbilt 76
South Carolina 78 Kentucky 77
Florida 97 South Carolina 93
South Carolina 79 Georgia 68
South Carolina 75 Alabama 73
Mississippi St. 75 South Carolina 70
South Carolina 82 Arkansas 78 (OT)

South Carolina STATS

Scoring-79.8
FG%-45.8%
3 Point FG%-38.1%
3 Point FG Per Game-6.9
FT%-63.2%
Rebounds-36.4
Assists-11.3
TO’s-14.1
Steals-9.5
Blocks-4.4

UK STATS

Scoring-76.7
FG%-49.0%
3 Point FG%-35.7%
3 Point FG Per Game-6.0
FT%-78.1%
Rebounds-37.8
Assists-16.4
TO’s-17.7
Steals-6.6
Blocks-7.0

Probable Starting Lineup

Dominique Archie-F-6’7” Jr……….PPG-11.5
Mike Holmes-F-6’7” Soph…………PPG-11.2
Sam Muldrow-C-6’9” Soph………..PPG-6.3
Devan Downey-G-5’9” Jr…………..PPG-20.0
Zam Fredrick-G-6’0” Sr……………PPG-15.3

Other Key Players

Brandis Raley-Ross-G-6’2” Jr……..PPG-6.6
Austin Steed-F-6’8” Soph………….PPG-4.1
Evaldas Baniulis-F-6’7” Jr…………PPG-7.0

Darrin Horn, after leading Western, Ky to the 2nd round in the NCAA, replaced Dave Odom as South Carolina coach for this season. In August, Horn took the Gamecocks to the Czach Republic, Slovakia and Austria for a four game basketball tour. Coach Horn pointed to the trip as being very important in terms of the practice time, understanding the new system and spending time with the team. Importantly, the Gamecocks return 4 starters and 7 letterman. South Carolina is led by their 2 terrific guards….Downey and Fredrick….who are the two top scorers. Downey is one of the very best players in the SEC….averaging 20.0 PPG…..and shooting a solid 45.4% from the field. Downey also leads the team in assists and steals. South Carolina has 4 players who average in double figures and 8 players who average 5 points or more. In addition, the Gamecocks are a very good 3 point shooting team hitting 38.1%.....in fact, Baniulis has hit 42-83 3 pointers for a smoking hot 50.6%. Downey has hit 44-117 3 pointers for a solid 37.6% and Fredrick has hit 46-127 3 pointers for 36.2%. Coach Horn loves to push the ball…..play uptempo….and Horn and Fredrick are quick guards who love this kind of play. South Carolina averages 80 PPG and get scoring from a number of different players which make them hard to defend.

South Carolina has lost only 1 game at home this season and that was to Clemson. The Gamecocks are 8-4 in the SEC having won 7 of their last 9 SEC games and no SEC team has beaten them at home. The Gamecocks having defeated UK at Rupp arena in a squeaker 78-77 will try to sweep the Cats Saturday.

Kentucky is coming off of one of their best games of the year in defeating Tennessee at Rupp arena. Patterson returned to the lineup after his ankle injury and played a solid game. The Vols, as expected, focused their defense on stopping Meeks and while they did hold Meeks to 14 points, the Cats were able to garner important scoring from several players….most notably, with Darius Miller having his best game of the year with 17 points. When the Cats can obtain good offense from other players, besides Meeks and Patterson, they become a vastly improved team. Certainly, UK will need to see continued solid and improved play from Miller and others as they head to Columbia and finish out the SEC season.

The Gamecocks will be a tough opponent on their home floor…..they are a very good shooting team, especially from long range where they average 7 3 pointers per game….….and they have 3 excellent long range marksmen. The Cats must play tough on the perimeter and take away open shots. The Gamecocks are a very quick team and average nearly 10 steals per game, so the Cats must take good care of the ball and minimize TO’s. Importantly, UK enjoys a big advantage in FT shooting as South Carolina is hitting only 63% compared to the Cats 79%.

A win at Columbia is very important to UK as they try to win the SEC East and add to their resume for a NCAA bid. The Cats appear to be coming together as team offensively and defensively and IMO, are ready to finish the SEC season on a very successful note. I see a UK win at Columbia…..close….but the Cats payback the Gamecocks. GO CATS!