SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

This is the big one.

The Gamecocks head up the road for their annual rivalry game against Clemson Sunday (5 p.m., ESPN2) for a pretty pivotal game not only for the Palmetto Series but for South Carolina's season as a whole.

South Carolina is in need of a good win and getting on against an ACC team could help there.

Before they do, get to know exactly what Clemson brings to the table in this scouting report.

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The skinny: Clemson is strictly average in the majority of the advanced statistics through the Tigers' first nine games and come into Sunday's game ranked 90th in the country. Their best win came against TCU (KenPom No. 60) but haven't beaned another KenPom top 100 team and have lost their last three games after starting 5-1.

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They have a freshman guard, Al-Amir Dawes, who is having to play a lot of minutes at the point guard spot but three of the other four spots on the court are filled by upperclassmen.

Clemson is averaging 70.7 points per game (compared to South Carolina's 71) and over those, 37.3 percent of those have come from beyond the three-point line.

They're not a fast-paced team, sitting at No. 229 in adjusted tempo, which likely means a lot of halfcourt sets Sunday. Like Frank Martin said, this Clemson team is a lot like South Carolina's with the Tigers still trying to figure out who they are.

KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (6-4) are given a 31 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 72-67 Gamecock loss in the upstate.

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What they do well: There's not a lot of stats that jump off the page as Clemson doing extremely well, but there are a few good things. The Tigers are top 70 in defensive efficiency, allowing just 94 points per 100 defensive possessions.

They're also solid at shooting the ball with an above average effective field goal percentage at 51.3 (national average is 49..2), and a relatively low turnover rate, which means they protect the ball.

They do a good job forcing turnovers as well, with opponents having a 22.8 turnover rate when playing Clemson (national average is 19.7).

Clemson shoots the three well, hitting 34.1 percent shots from long range.

What they don't do well: The first thing that jumps out is the Tigers are not a good offensive rebounding team, ranking 255th out of 353 teams in Division I in offensive rebounding rate.

That means the Tigers won't get a lot of second-chance opportunities. They also have a habit of getting their shots blocked pretty frequently and don't do a good job of blocking shots, which means USC could get some looks at the rim.

Opponents are also shooting 35.1 percent from three against them, which also means the Gamecocks will get some open looks there at times Saturday and will need to shoot better than their 27.2 three point percentage so far this year.

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Player to watch: Tevin Mack, Wing

It'd be easy to say center Aamir Simms, who is second on the team in points per game and first in rebounds per game, but the Gamecocks have had more trouble with guys like Mack this season.

Mack, who's from South Carolina and was recruited some by Frank Martin, is leading the Tigers in points with 13.8 per game and is shooting 41.7 percent from three. His 62 effective field goal percentage is 108th-best nationally and he's averaging almost two steals per game.

He's a big piece of the Tiger offense—he's used in 21.1 percent of his team's possessions—and since he's playing the small forward spot, it'll be up to Justin Minaya to try and contain him.

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