C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
After beating Vanderbilt Saturday, South Carolina (10-4, 1-1 SEC) travels to Tennessee (10-4, 1-2 SEC) for a 6:30 p.m. tip Tuesday night on the SEC Network.
Scouting Tennessee
Another year where the Gamecocks go up to Knoxville trying to knock off a top 25 Tennessee team looking for what would be a very good win early in league play.
Tennessee would easily be a Quad I win and would likely stay that way most of the season if the Gamecocks could pull out the win with the Vols ranked No. 14 in KenPom, No. 11 in the NET and 3-4 in Quad I and Quad II opportunities. Tennessee's best wins came over Arizona, a top-10 KenPom team, and North Carolina on a neutral site. Their losses have been to Villanova, Texas Tech, Alabama and LSU (all teams inside the KenPom top 20).
The Vols, once again, are led by their defense—ranked No. 3 nationally in defensive efficiency—and forcing a lot of turnovers in their pack-line defense (similar to Virginia).
John Fulkerson’s had an up-and-down season so far, but five-star freshman Kennedy Chandler is the Vols’ point guard and off to a solid start as a first-year guy. Guard Santiago Vescovi is also averaging 13.6 points per game. South Carolina will have its hands full in the backcourt trying to contain those two.
It’s a big test early for South Carolina against one of the mainstays near the top of the SEC the last five years.
Numbers to know
52.6 and 62.1—The assist rates for each team when Tennessee is on offense; South Carolina is allowing teams to assist on 52.6 percent of possessions, slightly below average, while Tennessee is top 15 nationally assisting on 62.1 percent of makes. Clogging passing lanes and forcing Tennessee into stagnant offense will be key for the Gamecocks defensively.
44.9 and 38.8—These are the percent of minutes played by the bench for both teams, both relying heavily on reserves. South Carolina is fifth nationally with the bench averaging 44.9 percent of available minutes while the Vols have reserves at nearly 38.8 percent. South Carolina’s bench was bad against Auburn and the Gamecocks lost and in the win over Vanderbilt played a lot better. Getting production there will be big if South Carolina wants to win.
34.9 and 27.1—The offensive rebound rates when South Carolina is on offense, which is an advantage for the Gamecocks. South Carolina is No. 26 nationally rebounding 34.9 percent of misses while Tennessee is slightly above average allowing opponents to rebound 27.1 percent of misses. The Gamecocks are going to miss shots against a good Tennessee defense, so finding ways for second chance points will be big.
Keys to victory
Get out in transition, don’t foul—When the Gamecocks are efficient offensively they’re typically going fast and squeeze out a lot of possessions. They did against Vanderbilt and it worked and they’ll need to again Tuesday. That comes with not fouling, which has been an issue this year and even more so on the road, and South Carolina can’t get into a stop-and-start game with the Vols and let Tennessee get into its halfcourt defense consistently.
Protect the basketball—South Carolina is dead last in league games in turnover rate, coughing the ball up on over 28 percent of possessions in two games. Tennessee, meanwhile, is best at forcing turnovers in SEC play. South Carolina can’t get empty possessions against a talented team and needs to protect the ball.
Play really good perimeter defense—Tennessee is going to take a lot of three-pointers, with 49.4 percent of field goals coming from three in league play so far, but they’re not necessarily a great shooting team from deep at just 32.1 percent from three. Forcing Tennessee to take bad shots from three and not letting Kennedy Chandler to get comfortable initiating offense will be imperative.
Scouting Tennessee
Another year where the Gamecocks go up to Knoxville trying to knock off a top 25 Tennessee team looking for what would be a very good win early in league play.
Tennessee would easily be a Quad I win and would likely stay that way most of the season if the Gamecocks could pull out the win with the Vols ranked No. 14 in KenPom, No. 11 in the NET and 3-4 in Quad I and Quad II opportunities. Tennessee's best wins came over Arizona, a top-10 KenPom team, and North Carolina on a neutral site. Their losses have been to Villanova, Texas Tech, Alabama and LSU (all teams inside the KenPom top 20).
The Vols, once again, are led by their defense—ranked No. 3 nationally in defensive efficiency—and forcing a lot of turnovers in their pack-line defense (similar to Virginia).
John Fulkerson’s had an up-and-down season so far, but five-star freshman Kennedy Chandler is the Vols’ point guard and off to a solid start as a first-year guy. Guard Santiago Vescovi is also averaging 13.6 points per game. South Carolina will have its hands full in the backcourt trying to contain those two.
It’s a big test early for South Carolina against one of the mainstays near the top of the SEC the last five years.
Numbers to know
52.6 and 62.1—The assist rates for each team when Tennessee is on offense; South Carolina is allowing teams to assist on 52.6 percent of possessions, slightly below average, while Tennessee is top 15 nationally assisting on 62.1 percent of makes. Clogging passing lanes and forcing Tennessee into stagnant offense will be key for the Gamecocks defensively.
44.9 and 38.8—These are the percent of minutes played by the bench for both teams, both relying heavily on reserves. South Carolina is fifth nationally with the bench averaging 44.9 percent of available minutes while the Vols have reserves at nearly 38.8 percent. South Carolina’s bench was bad against Auburn and the Gamecocks lost and in the win over Vanderbilt played a lot better. Getting production there will be big if South Carolina wants to win.
34.9 and 27.1—The offensive rebound rates when South Carolina is on offense, which is an advantage for the Gamecocks. South Carolina is No. 26 nationally rebounding 34.9 percent of misses while Tennessee is slightly above average allowing opponents to rebound 27.1 percent of misses. The Gamecocks are going to miss shots against a good Tennessee defense, so finding ways for second chance points will be big.
Keys to victory
Get out in transition, don’t foul—When the Gamecocks are efficient offensively they’re typically going fast and squeeze out a lot of possessions. They did against Vanderbilt and it worked and they’ll need to again Tuesday. That comes with not fouling, which has been an issue this year and even more so on the road, and South Carolina can’t get into a stop-and-start game with the Vols and let Tennessee get into its halfcourt defense consistently.
Protect the basketball—South Carolina is dead last in league games in turnover rate, coughing the ball up on over 28 percent of possessions in two games. Tennessee, meanwhile, is best at forcing turnovers in SEC play. South Carolina can’t get empty possessions against a talented team and needs to protect the ball.
Play really good perimeter defense—Tennessee is going to take a lot of three-pointers, with 49.4 percent of field goals coming from three in league play so far, but they’re not necessarily a great shooting team from deep at just 32.1 percent from three. Forcing Tennessee to take bad shots from three and not letting Kennedy Chandler to get comfortable initiating offense will be imperative.
