Kentucky vs. South Carolina: Preview

After beating Georgia this weekend, Kentucky heads back on the road to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.  Columbia has always been a tough place to play for Kentucky and Tuesday should be no different.

When: Tuesday, January 23rd at 7pm ET

Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina

Channel: SECN

South Carolina So Far

South Carolina came into the season picked last in the SEC so the bar is low but the Gamecocks have cleared that so far.  Their record sits at 15-3 (3-2) but they have mostly feasted on bad teams.  As of this morning they come in at 64^th in Kenpom and 61^st in the NET with just one Quad 1 win (Grand Canyon on a neutral site).

Needless to say South Carolina needs to more Quad 1 wins if they want to be on the bubble in March.  They only have two more chances to host Quad 1 opponents at home and this game is one of them.  I expect them to be fired up and desperate with a crazy crowd.  They are coming off a double digit road over floundering Arkansas.

How Does Kentucky Matchup

South Carolina is perimeter oriented with big/athletic wings and prefer mobility over size when it comes to their bigs.  On offense they don’t do anything particularly well but do just about everything at an average level.  They shoot a healthy number of 3’s but only hit 34%.  They don’t turn the ball over a ton either.  I would expect South Carolina to run a lot of iso and go foul-hunting which has been a theme for Kentucky’s opponents.

The Gamecocks’ defense is better than their metrics suggest as they are mobile and athletic. They are a good rebounding team despite their lack of size.   I would expect them to blitz Kentucky’s ball-handlers on screens and try to create enough chaos to rattle the young Cats.  Kentucky has handled just about every defense thrown at them but life on the road with young guys can be an adventure.

Player To Watch

Senior guard Meechie Johnson is the one to keep an eye on.  Johnson lit up Kentucky last year in Rupp Arena with 26 points (which was his career high until he scored 29 against Notre Dame earlier this year) going 6/10 from 3.  He’s an even better player this year.  He averages 16.7 points a game while shooting 37% from three and is capable of drawing fouls while shooting 81% from the line. Meechie has also become a plus defender since last year.

I’ll also add he’s coming of a game where he only scored 9 points in a road win over Arkansas.  It is rare that he has two low scoring games in a row.

Who Wins

South Carolina is desperate for a real Quad 1 win (unless Grand Canyon runs the table in the WAC that won’t stay a Quad 1 win) to keep them on the bubble.  I don’t know if this South Carolina team is a tournament team but I expect them to play like one tomorrow night.  This kind of feels eerily similar to the A&M game in terms of matchup.  However, Meechie isn’t as good as Wade Taylor and I’m not sure South Carolina has anyone else who can replicate the 28 points A&M got from Tyrece Radford (famous last words).

Kentucky wins 87-74.