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South Carolina @ Kentucky: Open Game Thread

By Glenn Logan

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This is the official A Sea of Blue open game thread for the South Carolina Gamecocks @ Kentucky Wildcats basketball game this afternoon at Rupp Arena, January 31st @ 3:00 PM.

Particulars of this game are as follows:

This afternoon, Kentucky takes on a surprising South Carolina Gamecock team that will do a lot to clarify the early SEC race. If the Gamecocks manage to beat Kentucky, it will put Florida at least temporarily in the driver's seat in the SEC East and make the Gamecocks a player for the SEC East regular-season title. If Kentucky can win, it will firm up their position atop the league and force Florida to hold serve at Tennessee today.

This is a very big game for UK coming of a loss at Ole Miss earlier in the week. A two-game skid at this point in the season would really hurt Kentucky's chances at an SEC regular-season title and greatly lower the seed the 'Cats stand to get for the NCAA tournament. The SEC doesn't have many high-quality wins available, and right now, South Carolina represents one of the better opportunities for UK to improve its résumé after the recent disappointing loss.

Things Kentucky needs to do well to win:

  1. Defend the three. South Carolina is a dangerous three-point shooting team and if the 'Cats don't force them to put the ball on the floor, it will be trouble.
    Get the ball inside virtually every possession. South Carolina's weakness is inside, and that is Kentucky's strength.
  2. Take care of the ball. Turnover margin could become a major factor in this game, as South Carolina takes very good care of the basketball.

Things that will make it hard for Kentucky to win:

  1. Allow Downey to get in the lane all the time. That will lead to open threes and dunks.
    Be impatient, like they were at Ole Miss. Kentucky shot much too quickly against Ole Miss. Patience is a virtue against the Gamecocks.
    Trying too hard to get the ball to Meeks. UK must stop expending so much energy to get him the ball. If he is open, give it to him. If not, get him open and give it to him. Otherwise, somebody else is going to have to step up.

Kentucky, right now, is an easier team to defend because they have shown themselves to be vulnerable when you hold down Jodie Meeks. You can bet that is going to be exactly what Darrin Horn has in mind -- taking advantage of the indecision of UK's younger players by denying Meeks the ball. We will be facing this for the rest of the year. How we handle it will be critical.

Go, Cats!

Quick Stats

FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
Jodie Meeks 21 34.2 7.8 16.3 47.7 3.9 8.7 44.5 6.4 7.1 90.6 0.7 3.0 3.7 1.7 3.0 1.4 0.1 2.0 25.8
Patrick Patterson 21 32.4 7.1 10.8 66.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 4.7 78.8 2.4 6.9 9.3 2.1 1.9 0.7 2.0 2.6 18.0
Perry Stevenson 21 27.5 2.9 5.0 57.5 0.1 0.4 33.3 2.0 2.7 76.8 1.9 4.6 6.5 1.7 1.9 0.7 2.2 2.7 8.0
DeAndre Liggins 20 20.3 2.0 5.1 39.6 0.4 2.0 17.5 1.6 2.3 71.1 0.2 2.7 2.8 3.5 3.1 1.0 0.6 2.0 6.0
Ramon Harris 16 21.5 2.1 3.7 57.6 0.2 1.1 17.6 1.4 2.4 56.4 0.7 2.3 3.0 1.4 2.3 0.6 0.3 1.7 5.8
Josh Harrellson 20 11.3 1.9 4.0 48.1 0.2 0.6 36.4 1.0 1.4 70.4 1.2 2.0 3.2 0.5 0.9 0.3 0.7 1.2 5.0
Darius Miller 21 19.7 1.3 3.9 34.1 0.3 1.5 21.9 1.0 1.3 78.6 1.0 2.4 3.4 1.9 1.8 0.5 0.7 2.4 4.0
Michael Porter 21 21.8 1.1 3.3 32.9 0.6 2.0 27.9 0.8 0.9 89.5 0.3 1.6 1.9 3.0 2.1 0.9 0.0 1.8 3.6
Landon Slone 9 9.2 0.7 2.1 31.6 0.4 1.4 30.8 0.4 0.4 100.0 0.3 1.0 1.3 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.4 2.2
A.J. Stewart 19 6.1 0.7 1.6 41.9 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.5 90.0 0.5 0.7 1.2 0.2 0.7 0.3 0.6 1.4 1.8
Kevin Galloway 16 7.0 0.4 1.1 41.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3 0.7 45.5 0.4 0.9 1.3 1.3 0.8 0.3 0.2 0.4 1.2
Jared Carter 7 3.7 0.1 0.7 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.9 66.7 0.3 0.6 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.6 0.6 0.9
Mark Halsell 6 1.7 0.2 0.2 100.0 0.2 0.2 100.0 0.2 0.3 50.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7
Dwight Perry 6 1.8 0.2 0.3 50.0 0.2 0.3 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.5
Mark Krebs 8 2.6 0.1 0.5 25.0 0.1 0.5 25.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4
21 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 1.4 2.9 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
Devan Downey 19 31.8 7.4 15.7 47.2 1.3 3.9 33.3 3.5 4.5 77.6 0.6 2.1 2.6 4.3 3.3 3.0 0.2 2.1 19.6
Zam Fredrick II 19 31.6 5.4 13.6 39.5 1.7 5.1 34.4 3.1 4.8 64.1 1.1 1.8 2.9 1.8 2.4 0.8 0.1 2.1 15.6
Dominique Archie 19 28.0 4.2 7.9 53.3 0.7 1.7 39.4 2.4 3.8 62.5 2.5 4.3 6.8 0.8 1.6 1.6 1.1 2.8 11.5
Mike Holmes 19 27.8 4.6 9.7 47.6 0.1 0.1 50.0 1.7 3.9 42.7 3.2 4.9 8.1 0.4 1.5 1.3 1.2 2.3 11.0
Evaldas Baniulis 19 20.3 2.6 4.8 54.3 1.8 3.5 53.0 0.6 0.9 64.7 0.7 2.2 2.8 0.8 1.3 0.7 0.1 1.7 7.7
Brandis Raley-Ross 13 25.8 2.4 5.7 41.9 0.7 2.3 30.0 1.3 1.9 68.0 1.2 1.8 3.1 1.9 1.7 0.7 0.2 2.2 6.8
Branden Conrad 8 28.8 1.3 3.9 32.3 1.0 2.9 34.8 1.5 1.5 100.0 0.5 2.1 2.6 3.4 1.5 2.3 0.0 2.4 5.0
Sam Muldrow 6 15.7 1.7 2.5 66.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.2 52.6 1.3 2.2 3.5 0.2 0.3 0.7 1.5 2.8 5.0
Austin Steed 19 15.9 1.7 3.5 47.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 2.1 67.5 1.8 2.2 4.1 0.3 0.9 0.6 0.7 2.1 4.8
Mitchell Carter 15 5.1 0.5 1.0 46.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.7 80.0 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.7 1.5
Robert Wilder 19 7.1 0.1 0.2 25.0 0.1 0.1 50.0 0.2 0.4 42.9 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.8 0.3
19 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.2 3.7 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0



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