Opponent Preview: South Carolina Gamecocks

Get ready for the Bohlin Bowl with an opponent preview from the man who has the privilege of cheering on both Georgetown and South Carolina men's basketball, Michael Bohlin!

South Carolina Gamecocks

Head Coach: Frank Martin (10th year, 158-134 career record at USC)
Conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Current Record: 5-2
Last Season’s Record: 6-15
Projected Starting Lineup: PG Jermaine Couisnard, SG Erik Stevenson, SF James Reese V, PF AJ Wilson, C Wildens Leveque

Gamecocks By the Numbers

KenPom Rank: #104
KenPom Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 101.7 (166th)
KenPom Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 95.2 (62nd)
KenPom Adjusted Tempo: 71.6 (46th)
FG%: 40.8% (293rd)
3FG%: 31.3% (257th)
FT%: 68.0% (234th)
Turnovers per game: 16.3 (319th)
Total Rebounds per Game: 40.9 (46th)
Three-Point Attempts per Game: 23.0 (142nd)

Players to Watch

Jermaine Couisnard, Guard, 6'4"
Couisnard leads the Gamecocks in scoring through seven games and, despite his turnover issues early on, provides South Carolina with the type of veteran presence at the point guard position that was noticeably absent in their loss to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night. Like many other guards on this team, he is not hesitant to let it fly from beyond the arc and is converting at a 40.6 percent rate. The area where Georgetown will have to take advantage of Couisnard is forcing him into turnovers with tough defense both on and off of the ball as the Chicago native has recorded more than twice as many turnovers than assists in six appearances.

Keyshawn Bryant, Forward, 6'6"
An early-season suspension has limited Bryant to only two appearances for the Gamecocks so far but it is hard to imagine that he will not have an impact on this game on both ends of the floor. While he has been coming off of the bench since the end of his suspension, the forward is in his fourth year in Frank Martin's system and is, hands down, one of the more athletic players in the country. Bryant is a capable shooter but where he really does his damage is in the paint and in transition as he loves to attack the rim. Georgetown will have to prevent him from playing above the rim on the offensive end while taking advantage of his aggressiveness when it comes to attempting to block shots on the defensive end with shot fakes in hopes of getting him to commit to the block attempt early and possibly leaving himself open for foul calls.

Erik Stevenson, Guard, 6'4"
Stevenson is one of many new faces on this Gamecock roster as the senior guard transferred into Frank Martin's program over the offseason. Most recently having played at the University of Washington prior to his move to the SEC, Stevenson is a gritty defender who will do his best to frustrate whichever member of the Hoyas backcourt he finds himself matched up with. However, on the offensive end of the floor, he is as streaky a shooter as they come, as evidenced by going a combined 4-for-17 from beyond the arc in South Carolina's last two games after a two-game stretch where he knocked down eight of his 12 attempts from 3. Whether they are going in or not, Stevenson will keep firing away from beyond the arc so it will be imperative that Georgetown closes out on shooters hard and contests attempts from deep for 40 minutes.

Keys to the Game

Defend hard, defend smart
Turnovers have been an issue for this South Carolina team all season long as they average more than 16 giveaways per game. If Georgetown can force them into a number of empty possessions on that end of the floor it will only help their chances of walking out of Colonial Life Arena with a victory. While the Hoyas must try to force the Gamecocks into turnovers, they cannot be so aggressive that they find themselves getting into foul trouble. Georgetown will have to play hard enough to make things difficult on the Gamecocks while playing smart enough to not bail South Carolina out with fouls and, ultimately, attempts for free points at the line.

Throw different looks at them
While I would not suggest it should be their primary look on the defensive end of the floor, South Carolina struggled mightily in their lopsided loss against Coastal Carolina once they were faced with zone looks on the defensive end. It might benefit Ewing and the Hoyas to throw zone looks at the Gamecocks sporadically throughout the game, perhaps on possessions following stoppages in play, in hopes of making South Carolina uncomfortable on that end of the floor.

Win the battle of the boards
South Carolina has out-rebounded their opponent in six of their seven games this season and ranks among the top 50 teams in the country in terms of rebounds per game. They will attack the glass hard on both ends of the floor meaning the Hoyas will have to do a good job of staying home and boxing out on defense, while also taking advantage of whatever opportunities for second chance opportunities on the offensive end that come their way. Coastal Carolina did a great job of this in their 24-point win over the Gamecocks on Wednesday night and, while it could be difficult, Georgetown would certainly benefit from trying to follow suit.

Control the tempo
Georgetown is likely going to have to play small-ball for long stretches of this game following the injury to Tim Ighoefe. With that being the case, I could see the Hoyas trying to speed up the Gamecocks as much as possible in hopes of keeping them from establishing their big men, which they have a number of, on the block and on the glass. The more up and down this game is, the fewer opportunities South Carolina will have to try and cash in on what should be a size advantage down low.  

Prediction: South Carolina 65, Georgetown 61

The KenPom numbers suggest that this should be a relatively even game and that makes it tougher to pick than most.

The loss of Tim Ighoefe could have a major impact on this game as South Carolina has a number of big bodies in the frontcourt that they can throw at Georgetown and the Hoyas are now, really, down to only Malcolm Wilson and Ryan Mutombo at the center spot. Georgetown would love to force South Carolina into abandoning the center position and making them match the Hoyas by playing small and if they're able to do that then they could have plenty of success.

On the other hand, South Carolina looked terrible without Couisnard running the show on Wednesday night and if he is unable to play on Sunday the Gamecocks' backcourt could have their hands full. Should he sit again, Jacobi Wright and Chico Carter Jr will likely be in for a long afternoon if their play against Coastal Carolina was any indication of their readiness to run the show for Frank Martin's squad.

In the end, I am going to give the slight edge to the home team as it sounds like Couisnard is more likely to play than sit this one out.