SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
As most folks are spending this week getting ready for holiday festivities and buying turkeys, stuffing and all the other accompaniments that go with Thanksgiving, South Carolina's basketball team is flying someplace a little more tropical.
The Gamecocks start the on-site part of the Cancun Challenge Tuesday with a game against Wichita State with a chance to notch a big resume-building win early in the season.
They hosted to Cancun Challenge games this week, going 1-1 with a win over Gardner Webb and a loss to Boston University, and will play the Shockers and either West Virginia or Northern Iowa on a neutral floor before returning home Thursday.
Before they do, though, here's a look at their first opponent of the trip.
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The skinny: Wichita State is ranked as the No. 57 team in the country by KenPom, compared to South Carolina's 81 overall rank. It's also a big game given Gregg Marshall, who coached at Winthrop and cut his teeth coaching, is from South Carolina and still has ties there.
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The Shockers have been one of the more consistent teams the last 10 years with seven tournament appearances that includes five trips to the second round, two to the Sweet 16 and a Final Four run in 2013.
This year, they're a perfect 5-0 to start with their biggest win coming over No. 165 Oral Roberts by nine. The only common opponent so far has been Gardner Webb, and they won that game 74-52. The Gamecocks will be their biggest test of the season so far.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (4-1) are given a 42 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 68-66 Shockers win in Cancun.
What they do well: Wichita State is always known for its defense, and this year really isn't much different. They're the 28th-best defensive efficiency team in the country, holding teams to just 89.3 points per 100 possessions.
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They don't turn the ball over a lot, with their 13.7 turnover rate the 11th-best nationally. They're also good at limiting opponent two-point field goal percentages (39.6 percent).
Defensively, they're allowing just 58 points per game with opponents shooting just 36.7 percent from the field.
What they don't do well: It's hard to find something they're really bad at, but the Shockers don't take a lot of free throws and their two-point percentage (46.1 percent) isn't great. Their average experience is less than a year, which is 345th out of 353 teams, which means they're young.
Opponents are shooting 32.1 percent against them, which is right around average, which means the Gamecocks could have more open three-point opportunities.
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Player to watch: Trey Wade, F
Wade is one of the few more experienced guys on the team and is currently leading the team in points (12) and rebounds (8) per game. He's shooting 42.6 percent from the field, including hitting seven of his 14 three-point attempts. He also has six blocks already on the season.
After starting his career at UTEP, Wade is playing his first minutes this season for Wichita State after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
In terms of more advanced statistics, h has a 54.8 effective field goal percentage, which means he doesn't take bad shots usually and converts a majority of the time. He rebounds the ball incredibly well on the defensive end of the court and rarely turns it over in the post with the 29th-lowest turnover rate (4.1) among Division 1 basketball players.
He's used a lot (21.5 percent of possessions when on the court) and plays exclusively at the four spot, which means it will likely be up to Maik Kotsar to try and limit him.
