SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
After a big upset and a somewhat lengthy break, the Gamecocks are back at home and ready to close out their non-conference slate Monday afternoon.
They'll host Stetson (5-9) at 3 p.m. Monday looking to push their non-conference win total to nine on the season before the start of SEC play.
Get to know Stetson and what to expect from the Hatters Monday afternoon.
The skinny: Stetson is in the middle of a tough stretch since 2013-14, having not won more than 12 games in a season since then. The hatters are in the middle of a coaching change right now, breaking in first-year man Donnie Jones, who is back as a head coach after spending the two seasons as an assistant at Wichita State and Dayton.
Also see: The latest on Lovasea Carroll
They're currently No. 329 in KenPom out of 353 teams and have lose their last four games with their best win over KenPom No. 226 Monmouth.
The Hatters are really young, No. 345 overall in terms of experience, and don't have much returning from last season for minute continuity.
They play really slow—341st in adjusted tempo and 338th in possession length—which is similar to how Virginia wanted to play.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (8-4) are given a 97 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 80-59 win at home.
What they do well: It's hard to find a lot of things the Hatters do really well, but they offensive rebound the ball and have a good FTA/FGA ratio.
They're No. 58 in the country in offensive rebound rate, which gives them some second chance point opportunities, and have the 28th-best FTA/FGA ratio, which means Stetson gets to the line a lot for free throw chances and free points.
The 49.6 shooting percentage from two is near the middle of the pack, slightly above average nationally, and they have a pretty OK offensive steal percentage of 9.4, which means they don't turn the ball over that way a lot.
They're strictly mediocre with a 48.6 effective field goal percentage but near the bottom in DI basketball for offensive and defensive efficiencies.
Also see: What Tony Bennett had to say about the Gamecocks
What they don't do well: The hatters turn the ball over a lot with a 23.4 turnover rate (the national average is 19.7), and the No. 340 overall non-steal turnover rate of 14, which means they're throwing the ball away or doing other things to give possession to the other team.
They don't shoot the ball well—31.3 percent from three and 66.5 percent from the line—and opponents are shooting really well against them: 37 percent from three, 50.6 from two and a total effective field goal percentage of 53.1.
Stetson also doesn't force many turnovers either and doesn't block many shots. They rely really heavily on getting to the line with 21.8 percent of their points coming from the charity stripe.
Player to watch: Rob Perry, G
The Gamecocks could have their hands full with a guy like Perry, who currently leads the team averaging 15.1 points per game and 3.6 rebounds. He's lethal from three, shooting almost 44 percent from beyond the arc and doesn't turn the ball over as much as some of his other teammates.
He's coming off a one-point, 0-for-9 shooting performance last time out but has scored in double figures 10 times this year, including a 34-point performance against Western Illinois Nov. 9.
It'll be up to Jair Bolden or AJ Lawson to really contain him.
