SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
The Gamecocks are entering the biggest part of their non-conference schedule and it starts Wednesday at 7 p.m. against UMass.
South Carolina's 1-2 in their last three games, winning their last one against George Washington, and now go on the road to try and take care of business against a young Minutemen team.
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The skinny: UMass comes in as the No. 183 overall team in KenPom's ratings with the same record (5-3) as South Carolina. Their best win is against KenPom No. 140 Rider, an 82-72 victory at home, but have a few good losses on their resume as well.
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They were competitive against Virginia on a neutral court, scoring the second-most points (46) against the Cavaliers this season, and kept it close at times against St. John's.
They're a young team with the average experience less than a year and like to play slow, averaging 17.9 seconds per possession.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (5-3) are given a 60 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 73-70 Gamecock win in Amherst.
What they do well: Offensively they don't turn the ball over, with the 79th-best turnover rate and the ninth-best non-steal turnover rate in the country. Defensively the Minutemen aren't great but they are holding teams to just 27.7 percent from three, the 39th-best mark in the country.
They shoot the three-ball well, hitting it at a 36.1 percent clip, with 37.6 percent of their points coming from beyond the arc. They like to stick with their starting five playing a lot of minutes as well, and it's been pretty productive for them.
What they don't do well: The Minutemen are not a good offensive rebounding team and allow teams to offensive rebound at a very high rate. They have the 254th-best offensive rebound rate in the country and opponents have a 32.3 offensive rebound rate on the season, which is not good for UMass. The national average is 28.2
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They don't shoot free throws well either, hitting at just 63.9 percent from the line.
The Minutemen, led by third-year head coach Matt McCall, are roughly middle of the road in efficiency numbers at 185th in offensive efficiency at 99 points per 100 possessions while they're 184th in defensive efficiency giving up 100.7 points per 100.
Player to watch: T.J. Weeks, F
It'd be easy to say UMass's freshman center Tre Mitchell, who's averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, but the Gamecocks have more problems this year with guys like Weeks.
Weeks is the team's first-year small forward and is averaging 15.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while racking up 13 steals in eight games. He's shooting 45.8 percent from the field but a blazing 54.2 percent from three. His effective field goal percentage of 61.5 is 157th-best nationally and he draws 5.4 fouls per 40 minutes, which could become a problem if he draws quick fouls on whoever's defending him.
He's an an offensive rating in seven of the Minutemen's eight games, including five straight. He started for the first time against Rutgers Friday, going 6-for-13 (4-for-6 from three) for 19 points with seven rebounds.
Weeks primarily plays the three, which means it'll likely be up to Justin Minaya to keep him in check.
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