Kentucky vs South Carolina.......A Preview

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs South Carolina 1/26/10 Tuesday at 9PM (ESPN)

South Carolina

Location-Columbia, SC
Enrollment-25,077
Arena-18,000

Head Coach-Darrin Horn
Career Record-132-58- (69.5%) 6 seasons
At South Carolina-21-10 (67.7%) 1 season

2008-09 Record-21-10
2008-09 SEC Record-10-6
2008-09 Postseason-0-1 NIT-1st Round

2009-10 Record-11-8
2009-10 SEC Record-2-3

South Carolina 88 Alabama A&M 50
South Carolina 90 Georgia Southern 66
South Carolina 78 LaSalle 68
South Carolina 69 South Florida 66
Miami, Fl. 85 South Carolina 70
South Carolina 97 Jacksonville 93
South Carolina 74 Western Ky. 56
Clemson 72 South Carolina 61
South Carolina 76 Richmond 58
Wofford 68 South Carolina 61
South Carolina 81 Furman 57
Boston College 85 South Carolina 76
Baylor 85 South Carolina 74
South Carolina 88 Longwood 58
South Carolina 80 Auburn 71
South Carolina 67 LSU 58
Vanderbilt 89 South Carolina 79
Ole Miss 66 South Carolina57
Florida 58 South Carolina 56

South Carolina Stats / UK Stats

PPG-74.8 / 83.2
FG%-43.1% / 49.8%
3 Point%-33.9% / 38.1%
FT%-63.8% / 68.6%
Rebounds-36.0 / 42.2
Assists-10.3 / 16.3
TO’s-13.3 / 15.1
Steals-9.5 / 7.4
Blocks-7.1 / 7.3

Probable Starting Lineup

Lakeem Jackson F-6’5” Fr. (PPG-7.0)
Evaldas Baniulis F-6’7” Sr. (PPG-3.3)
Sam Muldrow F 6’9” Jr. (PPG-9.2)
Devan Downey G-5’9”” Sr. (PPG-21.9)
Brandis Raley-Ross G 6’2” Sr. (PPG-10.1)

Other Key Players

Ramon Galloway G-6’2” Fr. (PPG-8.0)
Stephen Spinella G-6’5” Fr. (PPG-1.7)
Austin Steed F-6’8” Jr. (PPG-3.6)
Johndre Jefferson F-6’9” Jr. (PPG-2.8)

South Carolina after winning it’s first two SEC games has now dropped 3 in a row. The Gamecocks lost Sr. 6’7” Dominique Archie to a season ending injury. Archie was the team’s 2nd leading scorer and leading rebounder. In addition, 6’7” Mike Holmes has been dismissed from the team…..Holmes was averaging 9.4 points per game. South Carolina is led in scoring by Devan Downey who leads the SEC in scoring..…at 21.9 PPG. Downey is a senior who has lighting speed and has been a terrific scorer throughout his career at South Carolina. Guard Raley-Ross is the only other Gamecock in double figures aside from Downey. The Gamecocks are primarily a guard oriented team with most of the scoring coming from the backcourt. The most effective frontcourt player is Muldrow who is leading the team in rebounds while averaging 9.2 PPG. Overall, South Carolina has a weak frontline after losing Archie and Holmes. The Gamecocks have taken a lot of 3 point attempts…407 so far this season….an average of 21 per game. Guards Downey, Raley-Ross and Galloway have taken most of the 3 point shots…..Raley-Ross hitting a very good 42.7% and Downey 34.8%.

South Carolina is not a good rebounding team and their free throw shooting is a dismal 63.8%. Still the Gamecocks can be a dangerous team playing at home….and particularly if their 3 pointers are dropping.

Kentucky arrives in Columbia after playing their best game this season in destroying Arkansas. In fact, the first half play by the Cats has to rank among the best half’s in UK history! The Cats were hitting on all cylinders and played tremendous defense overall and especially on the perimeter where they completely stopped Clarke from being a factor.

It was great to see Darius Miller have his best game of the year hitting 4 -3 pointers and definitely being much more aggressive on the floor. Wall and Bledsoe had 13 assists between them….Cousins had a great game with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Lots of players off the bench contributed and got playing time….certainly, Liggins helped his cause with another high energy performance on defense. Terrific game by the Cats as they look forward to be ranked #1 in the nation. A ranking well deserved!

Now the hard part….staying number 1…..staying undefeated. There are a multitude of tough SEC games facing UK….particularly those on the road.

While the Cats will be a solid favorite over South Carolina, the Gamecocks will most certainly bring their A game. It will be very important for UK’s perimeter defense to remain excellent.

I see a 12 point win over South Carolina….GO CATS!