Here is the statistical comparison between South Carolina and Kentucky.
On paper, this is a very even game. Actually, the Gamecocks look rather better on paper, and have played a tougher schedule to boot. But the Wildcats are clearly not the same team that lost to Gardner-Webb and San Diego. This is a team that has apparently found its identity, and that identity is a grind-it-out, defensive team.
We must remember that Perry Stevenson is beginning to emerge as an all-around player, and that matters a lot. Suddenly, the high-low, a very difficult play to stop, has become deadly. If the Patterson-Stevenson duo can continue to play in perfect harmony, the Gamecocks may find the Wildcats a little too much for them. But if UK doesn't bring it's "A" game, South Carolina has more than enough horses to run us into the ground. Don't be fooled by their pedestrian record -- this team is capable, as the Gators nearly found out earlier this week.
The things that jumps out at me in this set of stats is the disparity in 3-point shooting, and how good USC is from the charity stripe. We give up more fouls than any other team in the SEC, and that is not a good thing against the Gamecocks, because unlike the Vols, they deliver at the line. A 6% difference in 3-point shooting is also a very big concern, but we will look into how to handle that in the adversary analysis, which will be forthcoming tomorrow morning before the game. For more on the Gamecocks, please be sure to visit our SBNation brothers at Garnet and Black Attack.
Thanks again to Statsheet.com and Basketball State for the statistical data.
Statistic |
SC |
UK |
Comments |
Overall |
9-9 |
8-9 |
|
Conference |
1-3 |
2-2 |
|
Home |
6-5 |
8-4 |
|
Away |
1-2 |
0-4 |
|
Top 25 |
0-3 |
2-2 |
|
RPI Top 50 |
3-5 |
3-3 |
|
Ranking |
NR |
NR |
BlogPoll |
RPI |
109 |
143 |
|
SOS |
12 |
26 |
surprising |
|
National rankings |
SC |
UK |
Comments |
FG% |
151 |
63 |
|
2 pt FG% |
221 |
35 |
|
3 pt FG% |
25 |
184 |
|
Possessions |
194 |
150 |
|
Offensive Pts/Possession |
58 |
117 |
Can they outscore us? |
Defensive Pts/Possession |
136 |
86 |
Maybe not. |
TO/gm |
8 |
295 |
Yech. |
APG |
174 |
134 |
|
A/TO |
28 |
240 |
UK=Ugly |
Rebounds |
202 |
104 |
Here is an opportunity |
|
Stat |
All Games |
Conference Games |
|
|
SC |
UK |
SC |
UK |
Delta (adjusted for games played for all games) |
Comments |
Total Games |
18 |
17 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
|
Wins |
9 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Losses |
9 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
Pct |
0.5 |
0.47 |
0.25 |
0.5 |
0.03 |
|
Field Goals Made |
510 |
426 |
101 |
94 |
58.94 |
|
Field Goals Attempted |
1132 |
910 |
233 |
221 |
168.47 |
|
Field Goal Percentage |
0.45 |
0.47 |
0.43 |
0.43 |
-0.02 |
Small advantage to UK. |
Free Throws Made |
195 |
270 |
34 |
75 |
-90.88 |
|
Free Throws Attempted |
272 |
351 |
52 |
94 |
-99.65 |
|
Free Throw Percentage |
0.72 |
0.77 |
0.65 |
0.8 |
-0.05 |
SC is a good FT shooting team. |
3pt Field Goals Made |
146 |
104 |
34 |
22 |
35.88 |
|
3pt Field Goals Attempted |
361 |
299 |
94 |
73 |
44.41 |
|
3pt Field Goal Percentage |
0.4 |
0.35 |
0.36 |
0.3 |
0.06 |
No surprise here. |
Points |
1361 |
1226 |
270 |
285 |
62.88 |
|
Points Per Game |
75.6 |
72.1 |
67.5 |
71.3 |
3.5 |
Almost a push |
Rebounds |
709 |
637 |
135 |
165 |
34.53 |
|
Rebounds Per Game |
39.4 |
37.5 |
33.8 |
41.3 |
1.9 |
Can you believe they get more per game than us? |
Offensive Rebounds |
216 |
181 |
43 |
52 |
24.35 |
|
Offensive Rebounds Per Game |
12 |
10.6 |
10.8 |
13 |
1.4 |
Ditto |
Defensive Rebounds |
426 |
417 |
77 |
99 |
-15.53 |
|
Defensive Rebounds Per Game |
23.7 |
24.5 |
19.3 |
24.8 |
-0.8 |
Call this even |
Assists |
249 |
233 |
46 |
51 |
16 |
|
Assists Per Game |
13.8 |
13.7 |
11.5 |
12.8 |
0.1 |
This is even, too. |
Steals |
138 |
129 |
32 |
30 |
9 |
|
Steals Per Game |
7.7 |
7.6 |
8 |
7.5 |
0.1 |
Even again |
Turnovers |
204 |
286 |
50 |
60 |
-82 |
|
Turnovers Per Game |
11.3 |
16.8 |
12.5 |
15 |
-5.5 |
Yech. They handle the ball well. |
Blocks |
78 |
79 |
16 |
19 |
-1 |
|
Blocks Per Game |
4.3 |
4.6 |
4 |
4.8 |
-0.3 |
The barest of advantage. |
Fouls |
293 |
358 |
70 |
89 |
-65 |
|
Fouls Per Game |
16.3 |
21.1 |
17.5 |
22.3 |
-4.8 |
Not the best thing to win. |
Disqualifications |
5 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
-8 |
|
Enjoy your Friday. Tomorrow is game day!