No. 8/8 Kentucky Wildcats (9-1, 0-0 SEC)
vs.
South Carolina Gamecocks (8-3, 0-0 SEC)
Wed., Jan. 5 – 8:00 p.m.
Rupp Arena – Lexington, Ky.
TV: JP Sports
Kentucky opens its 72nd Southeastern Conference season Wednesday by welcoming the South Carolina Gamecocks to Rupp Arena. UK is 55-16 all-time in SEC openers and has won 16 of its last 17.
The Cats enter league play with a 9-1 record, identical to last season. Kentucky faces its final non-conference opponent of the regular season Sunday when it hosts Kansas.
Tubby Smith is 6-1 in SEC openers at Kentucky and 7-2 overall after going 1- 1 at Georgia. This marks the second consecutive season that the Wildcats have opened the league schedule at home after two previous debuts on the road. Last year, UK defeated 20th-ranked Vanderbilt, 75-63, to start the conference season, with Kelenna Azubuike, Gerald Fitch and Erik Daniels each scoring 16 points.
Scouting the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks open league play Wednesday sporting an 8-3 record and having won three of their last four games. The only loss in that stretch came at No. 10 Pittsburgh on Dec. 29, a 72-68 defeat. USC opened the season with four consecutive victories, a streak that was snapped with an overtime loss to Clemson at home on Dec. 4. The Gamecocks also count a four-point loss at Kansas.
Senior Carlos Powell leads the team with 14.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg. He?s shooting 57 percent from the field as well. Tarence Kinsey adds 10.7 ppg for the Gamecocks, while Tre Kelley is averaging 3.6 assists per game.
Dave Odom is in his fourth season at South Carolina, holding a 65-45 record in Columbia. Overall, he?s 343-219 in his 19th season.
Probable Starters
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG Notes F 44 Chuck Hayes 6-6 242 Sr. 11.6 9.4 44 points from 1,000 in career F 24 Kelenna Azubuike 6-5 208 Jr. 14.4 4.9 13-of-25 FGs in last two games C 33 Randolph Morris 6-10 266 Fr. 10.2 4.4 11-of-14 FGs vs. Campbell G 4 Rajon Rondo 6-1 171 Fr. 6.4 *2.4 Averaging 23.0 minutes per game G 22 Patrick Sparks 6-0 180 Jr. 11.7 *5.2 Leads SEC in assist/TO ratio SOUTH CAROLINA Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG Notes F 33 Brandon Wallace 6-9 195 So. 6.5 5.4 Averaging 1.73 blocks per game F 15 Carlos Powell 6-7 225 Sr. 14.5 6.5 14 pts, 9 rebs vs. Wofford F 10 Rocky Trice 6-2 160 Jr. 5.1 2.5 Has started last three games G 21 Tarence Kinsey 6-7 184 Jr. 10.7 3.1 Shooting 38.2% from 3FG G 1 Tre Kelley 6-0 182 So. 9.8 *3.6 8 pts, 7 assts vs. Pitt last week *assists per game
Location: –
TV:
Radio: –
Online Coverage:
South Carolina Gamecocks Information
