The Kentucky Wildcats are rounding into form as the SEC season hits high gear, and they will look to keep building momentum as they hit the road to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
There are currently three teams with perfect records in SEC play, but talent-wise Kentucky has a massive edge on the others. Entering play today, the Wildcats are tied with undefeated Auburn and LSU atop the SEC standings, but in terms of pure ability, Kentucky has a much higher ceiling than both of those teams.
Thanks to the incredible recruiting work done year-after-year by head coach John Calipari, Kentucky has a deep roster featuring experience, shooting, defense, and playmaking. While the Wildcats don’t really have a dominant player, with their top four scorers averaging between 13 and 14 points per game, they feature a lot of guys capable of taking over a game on any given night.
The thing that Calipari will be looking for from his team in the conference schedule is to establish more of a consistent identity on both ends of the floor. Kentucky has posted solid numbers on offense and defense, but they aren’t truly dominant in any one facet of the game yet.
Next up for the Wildcats is a road trip to Columbia for a matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks, who enter the game with an 8-7 record and have been a very schizophrenic year. South Carolina has experienced incredible highs such as picking up an 11 point win at Virginia but followed up that victory by losing a home game to Stetson.
That loss was the beginning of South Carolina’s current three-game losing skid, which leaves the Gamecocks 0-2 in conference play. Florida came in and won by 13, but the Gamecocks showed tremendous improvement in their last game, losing by just a point to Tennessee.
The big issue for South Carolina is the fact that they have a lot of trouble scoring points. Only one player, sophomore guard A.J. Lawson, averages more than 10.7 points per game, and as a team, the Gamecocks only score 68.4 points per game.
That kind of output will make it difficult for South Carolina to win if Kentucky plays its A-game, but if the Wildcats are off there is certainly upset potential here.
How to watch Kentucky at South Carolina
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Columbia, SC
- Venue: Colonial Life Arena
- TV: SEC Network
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Odds: The Action Network
- Prediction: Kentucky