Kentucky vs South Carolina.....A Preview(Round 2) 2012

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs South Carolina 2/4/12 Saturday 6PM (ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 45-10

South Carolina Gamecocks

Location: Columbia, SC
Enrollment: 29,957
Arena: 18,000

Head Coach: Darrin Horn
Career Record: 161-90 (64.1%) 8 seasons
At SC: 50-42 (54.3%) 3 seasons

2010-11 Record: 14-16
2010-11 SEC Record: 5-11
2010-11 Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 9-11
2011-12 SEC Record: 1-5

SC 75 W. Carolina 50
Elon 58 SC 53
Tenn. St. 64 SC 63
SC 61 Miss. Valley St. 57
North Carolina 87 SC 62
Southern Cal 63 SC 60
Providence 76 SC 67
SC 58 Clemson 55
SC 66 Presbyterian 58
Ohio St. 74 SC 66
SC 62 Southern Louisiana 43
SC 57 Woffard 45
SC 72 USC Upstate 66
SC 79 SC St. 51
Kentucky 79 South Carolina 65
Vanderbilt 67 South Carolina 57
Florida 79 South Carolina 65
Auburn 63 South Carolina 52
South Carolina 54 Alabama 52
Ole Miss 66 South Carolina 62

SC Stats

PPG-62.8
FG%-41.7%
3 PT.%-32.8% (6.5)
FT%-70.6%
RPG-32.5 (+0.5)
APG-10.3
TO’s-13.1
SPG-7.4
BPG-4.9

Probable Starting Lineup

Malik Cooke-F 6’6” Sr……………………..12.7 PPG
Anthony Gill-F 6’8” Fr……………………..8.3 PPG
Damontre Harris-F 6’9” So.…………………6.7 PPG
Bruce Ellington-G 5’9” Soph………..……..10.8 PPG
Damien Leonard-G 6’5” Fr…………………6.4 PPG

South Carolina welcomes #1 ranked UK to Columbia hoping to repeat history where they upset a #1 ranked UK team 2 years ago. It is doubtful that even upsetting UK will save coach Darrin Horn’s job who is in his 4th year as coach of the Gamecocks…..as SC is currently 10-11 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.

The Gamecocks are led by senior Malik Cooke who leads the team in scoring, assists and steals….also, along with Damontre Harris leads in rebounds. Cooke is a very complete player. Harris is the leading shot blocker with 42. Certainly, sophomore Bruce Ellington, provides great quickness and ability at the PG position. SC likes shooting from the perimeter averaging 19 PG….unfortunately, they are only hitting a so so 32.8%

Coach Horn has gone deep in his bench this season with 10 players averaging 12 plus minutes a game. Obviously, Horn is looking for the best combination and is now starting 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores along with senior Cooke.

South Carolina lost at home in December by only 8 points to a highly ranked Ohio State team….and just defeated Alabama at home.

Kentucky arrives in Columbia fresh off two excellent games against LSU and Tennessee.

The Cats are playing their best basketball of the year…..Teague has responded positively to coach Cal’s coaching and is now effectively running the offense. Jones is returning to form and has significantly raised his game with solid play on the frontline. MKG continues to play at the highest level and plays with incredible intensity while Anthony Davis has simply become the best player in America. Miller and Lamb are playing solid basketball and their perimeter shooting remains very important. As coach Cal says…..there is still more improvement needed, but obviously Cal is very pleased with how the Cats are now playing.

There is always danger when playing on the road and especially to any team that tosses up a lot of 3’s, but UK’s defense has remained solid most of the year and their offense is now in high gear…..UK should defeat SC by 15 points. GO CATS!