South Carolina-Alabama basketball: How, what to watch as USC chases a road win
South Carolina (17-11, 9-6 SEC) visits Alabama (15-13, 7-8) on Saturday in Tuscaloosa in Coleman Coliseum. Tip-off is 8:30 p.m.; broadcast is on the SEC Network.
Here are some storylines to watch for the game.
Better than their record
Look at the standings and you’ll see an Alabama team that is under .500 in the SEC with only two more wins than losses. Do not let this fool you.
The Tide is a top-50 team in the NET and KenPom rankings, meaning they’re plenty formidable, especially at home.
It’s a team the popped LSU, crushed Mississippi State and seems to push most everyone else to the limit. It’s a team with a set of good guards in Kira Lewis, Jaden Shackelford and John Petty, who is hitting 45% of his 3s.
First-year coach Nate Oats has assembled a productive offense, inheriting a pretty talented crew.
“Let’s not act like Avery Johnson doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said on his weekly radio show of the coach Alabama dismissed a year ago. “Avery Johnson is a pretty good basketball coach.”
One big chance
With three games left, the Gamecocks will follow this tough one with a challenging senior night game against Mississippi State and a road trip to Vanderbilt to finish off the regular season.
Those last two should be difficult, but for better or worse they don’t have the upside value of this trip to Tuscaloosa.
With the Tide ranked in the top 40 of the NET, this is a guaranteed Quadrant 1 opportunity — the most valuable for a team’s postseason résumé. USC coach Frank Martin said he feels his team already has the top-end wins it needs, but another one can only help as the Gamecocks try to boost their chances.
Speed and shooters
South Carolina just came off facing a team that could space them out with shooting and driving all over the floor. Now they get a team with a 6-foot-9, 245-pound center who fires up 5.5 3-pointers a game.
Oats came from Buffalo and has imprinted quite a style on his new team. Alabama ranks third nationally in tempo and seventh in the country in how often they shoot 3s (more than 48 percent of its field goals).
“He’s got them playing the brand of basketball that he likes,” Martin said.
Kira Lewis is the floor general, ranking fourth in the SEC in scoring, and the batch of players around him can score in complementary ways. USC just faced the No. 3 scorer in the conference in Georgia’s Anthony Edwards.
ALABAMA
Coach: Nate Oats (111-59 in five seasons overall; first season at Alabama— 15-12)
Projected starters: G Kira Lewis Jr. (17.9 ppg), G John Petty (15.0), G Jaden Shackelford (14.9), G/F Herb Jones (8.3), F Alex Reese (9.4)
Last game: Lost to Mississippi State 80-73 on Tuesday on the road
KenPom ranking: 46 (No. 33 in offense efficiency, No. 93 in defense efficiency)
NET: 39
SOUTH CAROLINA
Coach: Frank Martin (264-170 in 13 seasons overall; eighth season at USC — 147-116)
Projected starters: G A.J. Lawson (13.5), G Jermaine Couisnard (12.2), F Alanzo Frink (4.9), F Keyshawn Bryant (8.1), C Maik Kotsar (11.1)
Last game: Beat Georgia 94-90 in overtime on Wednesday at home
KenPom ranking: 71 (No. 140 in offense efficiency, No. 42 in defense efficiency)
NET: 64
Game info
Who: South Carolina (17-11, 9-6 SEC) at Alabama (15-13, 7-8)
When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Coleman Coliseum
TV channel: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
Series: Alabama leads 28-16
Last meeting: Feb. 26, 2019 — Alabama 68, South Carolina 62
KenPom prediction: Alabama 82, South Carolina 76
