SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
Everyone before the season the start of SEC play was going to be a brutal stretch, and right now the Gamecocks are living it.
After a conference-opening loss to Florida Tuesday (81-68 at home) the Gamecocks travel to Tennessee for a 1 p.m. tip Saturday (SEC Network) needing something good to happen to avoid a three-game losing streak.
Before they head up to the mountains, get to know what Tennessee brings to the table and the opponent South Carolina will face.
The skinny: Tennessee has been one of the elite programs in the SEC the last two years, going 57-15 over that stretch with a trip to the Sweet 16 mixed in as well.
This year it's a little different through two games of conference play with the Vols sitting at five losses, however all of those have come to good teams: home losses to LSU, Memphis and Wisconsin; a neutral court loss to Florida State and a road loss to Cincinnati.
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They're in a bit of a weird spot right now after losing senior starting point guard Lamonte Turner for the season and plugging in freshman Santiago Vescovi, who enrolled in late December and was inserted in the starting lineup. Through two games, he's averaging 15 points but has a 3-to-7 assist to turnover ratio.
It's still a good Tennessee team—the Vols have quality wins over Washington and VCU and are coming off their first SEC win of the year at Missouri—predicated on defense and slowing the pace down.
Right now they're No. 313 out of 353 teams in tempo averaging 65.8 possession per game (the national average is 69.3) with an average possession length of 17.7 seconds.
They don't use a lot of bench players with the starters playing over 88 percent of minutes per game, but those that do play are long and can affect the game in multiple ways.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (8-6, 0-1 SEC) are given a 19 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 71-62 Vols win in Knoxville.
What they do well: While this Tennessee squad isn't as good as others in terms of offensive efficiency, the Vols' defense is the reason for their success this season.
Right now they're 37th in defensive efficiency, holding teams to just 90.9 points per 100 possessions and they have the 30th-best effective field goal percentage against with teams shooting just 44.5 percent against them. Their 41.1 percent from two against is sixth best and the Vols are good at protecting the rim with a 14.7 block percentage (national average is nine percent).
The Vols are good but not great offensively, ranking 77th in offensive efficiency and 76th in offensive rebounding rate with a 49.3 effective field goal percentage, which is right at the national average.
The Vols are a really good defensive team, forcing opponents to take and miss bad shots.
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What they don't do well: Turnovers have been a huge problem for the Vols this year with Tennessee sporting a 20.9 turnover rate, one of the bottom 100 rates in the country, and their offensive steal percentage is No. 294-best in the country, well above the national average.
It's something the Gamecocks, who are good at forcing turnovers, could exploit if they want to get out and run in transition.
Opponents are also shooting really well against them from three, hitting 34.4 percent from long-range against the Vols this season. South Carolina is shooting 28.5 percent from three, one of the worst marks nationally, but they could have some open looks Saturday as well.
Offensively, the Vols are middle of the road in most offensive categories, shooting 49.2 percent from two and 33 percent from three.
Player to watch: Jordan Bowden, G
It'd be easy to say Santiago Vescovi, the Vols' turnover-prone but lights-out shooting point guard, but he's far too up and down. With Turner out, Bowden is the team's go-to guard.
Tennessee uses him a lot, playing him 85.2 percent of the team's minutes with him taking 25 percent of the shots when he's on the floor. He doesn't shoot the ball great—40.2 percent from two and 32.5 percent from three—but he doesn't foul and he's able to get to the free throw line and convert, shooting 84.4 percent from the stripe.
He's averaging 12.2 points per game (second only to Vescovi and the injured Turner), is third in assist per game,
The Gamecocks have shown the ability to contain elite post players—Mamadi Diakite and Kerry Blackshear come to mind—but have trouble with quicker, physical guards like Andrew Nembhard of Florida.
It'll be important for whoever is on Bowden (AJ Lawson or Jair Bolden) to keep him in front and not let him get clean looks from three or at the rim.
