Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: South Carolina Gamecocks
By Paul Jordan
GAME 19
January 22, 2011 – 6 PM
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS 12-5 (3-1)
Colonial Life Arena – Columbia, SC
TV – ESPN
SERIES HISTORY
Kentucky leads 42-10
RECENT HISTORY
2/25/2010: KENTUCKY 82 South Carolina 61
1/26/2010: South Carolina 68 KENTUCKY 62
2/25/2009: South Carolina 77 KENTUCKY 59
1/31/2009: South Carolina 78 KENTUCKY 77
3/5/2008: KENTUCKY 71 South Carolina 63
Is it too early to call game number nineteen a must win game? For John Calipari and his Wildcats, this pretty much qualifies as that. For starters, if Kentucky loses, the will fall two games behind South Carolina and a fifth loss this early in the season can end any hope of a one or two seed in the NCAA Tournament. So Kentucky needs the game to keep pace in the competitive SEC East. Aside from that, Kentucky needs a win on the road desperately to keep up the psyche of this team. An 0-3 start on the road in the SEC is going to put John Calipari in a role he has avoided thus far in Lexington: the hot seat.
The last two trips to Colombia have been nothing short of nightmares and it should be noted that the Gamecocks have won three of the past four games. But this is a different Kentucky team, there is no Devan Downey, and the Wildcats have something to prove. With that in mind, let’s look at the Gamecocks.
THE STARTERS
#23 – G – BRUCE ELLINGTON – FR – 5’9 – 197
14.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.6 apg
#2 – G – BRIAN RICHARDSON – FR -6’4 – 164
7.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.7 apg
#30 – F – LAKEEM JACKSON – SO – 6’5 – 230
9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.7 apg
#44 – F – SAM MULDROW – SR – 6’9 229
10.1 ppg, 7 rpg, 0.4 apg
#24 – F – DAMONTRE HARRIS – FR – 6’9 214
3.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.4 apg
BACK COURT
In short, Freshman Bruce Ellington has been magnificent. He has scored over 20 points in four of the last eight games, including a 31 point outburst in a loss at Furman. He is a definite 3-point threat and is hitting 40.2% on the season and has two games with 6 3-pointers on the season. He does have almost as many TO’s as assists on the season though and he does take a lot of bad shots. He is hitting 37.7% from the field on the season. For a 5’9 guard, he is a good rebounder, but you have to think that Kentucky’s depth will give him problems. He has been on a “have a big game every other game” for the past eight games and as fate would have it, it’s time for a 20 plus effort from him. Brian Richardson is the other part to the Gamecock’s all freshman backcourt, but his minutes and points have been on a steady decline. He is a streaky scorer and has 11 points in his last four games and has gone scoreless in two of them. He is a decent 3-point shooter at 33.8% but he does not rebound well for his size and has not had an assist in his last seven games with 8 TO’s in that span. Ramon Galloway brings some 3-point shooting off the bench and is actually averaging double digits with 10.3 a game. He is a bit smaller (6’2) and slower version of Doron Lamb, but is hitting 38.6% on his treys but he can get hot and dump in lots of points.
FRONT COURT
Lakeem Johnson has picked up his scoring recently and has hit double digits in five of the last six games. He is especially good at keeping the Gamecock possessions alive with offensive rebounds and is decent scoring from about 12 feet in, hitting 49.3 of his shots. He has good court vision and does a good job of hitting open team mates. He is also solid defensively and has quick hands. Sam Muldrow is a solid player but does tend to disappear for a game every now and then. He is coming off a 20 point game against Arkansas and he does have four double doubles on the season. He is just averaging a little over 8 points a game in his last four games versus Kentucky, however. Muldorow is an excellent rebounder and is not afraid to get physical. He is averaging 3.5 blocks a game and had 10 blocks versus Vandy. He also has a pretty good stroke from outside for a big man, nailing 31.7% of his treys. Damontre Harris is yet another freshman starter and while he is new to being a starter, he is good defensively. He is averaging 1.2 blocks per game, but that is just in 14 minutes. He and Muldrow have the potential to turn this into a block party if they are on their game. He is hitting 59% of his shots and is a good rebounder. He had 10 boards in a 20 minute appearance this season. Harris is getting better game by game. Malik Cooke, a transfer from Nevada may also start instead of Harris. Cooke is a bit undersized for the post at 6’6 but is averaging 8.8 points and 7.2 boards a game. He is coming off his first double double (off the bench) and is a very solid rebounder and is more of a scoring threat than Harris. He does play a couple of different positions, so he will be on the court a good bit.
OUTLOOK
As I stated earlier, this is a much win for Kentucky and they face a solid South Carolina team in an arena that will be rocking. And this is where we get to see if John Calipari has earned his money. Do keep in mind that this is a South Carolina team that has lost to Furman and that it is a very young team. And make no mistake about it, this is a team that has been gearing up for Kentucky all week and is hearing about this game
from their fellow students. There is a chance that Kentucky can come out focused and on a mission, jump out to a quick lead, get the young Gamecocks rattled and roll to an easy win. That’s not likely, but when you have a young team, it’s possible.
I see this as an area when Kentucky’s backcourt has a big advantage. Ellington is good, but I really think UK’s length will disrupt him and after Tuesday, no one on South Carolina better be getting an open look at a three pointer. What Kentucky needs to do is play the guards tight and play the defense they played in the late stages against Alabama and cover the guards tightly so they do not get free passes to the post. South Carolina’s post game will give Kentucky problems, and I know they have seen film of the Alabama game and North Carolina games and know where Kentucky’s Achilles heel is.
In the end, this game comes down to talent and coaching. Kentucky still has superior talent and for this game, I am betting the house on Calipari to have his team ready to play from the start. if not, there is a big problem in Lexington that we are all unaware of. I still have faith in the Cats in this game: KENTUCKY 79 South Carolina 71
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