SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: South Carolina at Auburn

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South Carolina visits Auburn on Wednesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
South Carolina	0.427	0.309	0.613	217	638	234	133	75	233
South Carolina OPP	0.384	0.304	0.725	167	586	192	100	64	264
Auburn	0.445	0.309	0.654	231	702	228	109	102	222
Auburn OPP	0.408	0.310	0.685	184	612	171	113	47	248

Statistical Leaders

South Carolina Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
AJ Lawson	South Carolina	13.8	74	57	30
Jermaine Couisnard	South Carolina	10.6	62	25	20
Maik Kotsar	South Carolina	9.8	72	23	0
Jair Bolden	South Carolina	9.7	58	15	24
Justin Minaya	South Carolina	7.4	43	26	14
Alanzo Frink	South Carolina	5.5	35	18	0
Jalyn McCreary	South Carolina	3.2	18	9	0
Trae Hannibal	South Carolina	3.0	16	7	0
TJ Moss	South Carolina	3.0	18	5	7
Wildens Leveque	South Carolina	2.1	12	9	0

South Carolina Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Maik Kotsar	South Carolina	40	68	108	6.4
Justin Minaya	South Carolina	32	69	101	5.9
Alanzo Frink	South Carolina	32	34	66	4.1
AJ Lawson	South Carolina	6	47	53	3.1
Jair Bolden	South Carolina	5	46	51	3.2
Jermaine Couisnard	South Carolina	12	35	47	2.9
Wildens Leveque	South Carolina	18	23	41	2.6
Jalyn McCreary	South Carolina	11	21	32	2.3
Keyshawn Bryant	South Carolina	12	12	24	2.7
Trae Hannibal	South Carolina	7	17	24	1.8
TJ Moss	South Carolina	2	18	20	1.3
Micaiah Henry	South Carolina	2	4	6	1.2
Nathan Nelson	South Carolina	2	0	2	0.3
Mike Green	South Carolina	0	1	1	0.3

Auburn Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Samir Doughty	Auburn	14.6	77	65	30
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	12.8	80	48	9
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	10.9	68	29	21
Austin Wiley	Auburn	10.6	56	68	0
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	9.5	54	28	26
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	7.5	46	20	15
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	5.1	25	14	23
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	3.5	25	5	4
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	3.1	21	3	7

Auburn Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Austin Wiley	Auburn	53	104	157	9.2
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	26	60	86	5.1
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	33	42	75	4.4
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	19	52	71	4.2
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	18	48	66	3.9
Samir Doughty	Auburn	14	48	62	3.6
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	12	33	45	2.6
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	9	21	30	1.8
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	9	18	27	1.6
Tyrell Jones	Auburn	4	6	10	1.0
Babatunde Akingbola	Auburn	1	3	4	0.4
Jaylin Williams	Auburn	1	3	4	0.5
Preston Cook	Auburn	0	1	1	0.5
Javon Franklin	Auburn	0	1	1	0.2

NCAA RPI

South Carolina: 98

Auburn: 20

South Carolina Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	A.J. Lawson	G	6′-6″	178	SO	Toronto, ON
1	T.J. Moss	G	6′-4″	195	FR	Memphis, TN
2	Trey Anderson	F	6′-6″	203	FR	San Diego, CA
4	Jalyn McCreary	F	6′-7″	225	FR	Marietta, GA
5	Jermaine Couisnard	G	6′-4″	211	FR	East Chicago, IN
10	Justin Minaya	F	6′-6″	215	SO	Harrington Park, NJ
12	Trae Hannibal	G	6′-2″	217	FR	Hartsville, SC
13	Micaiah Henry	F	6′-9″	235	SR	Decatur, GA
14	Nathan Nelson	F	6′-6″	189	SO	Murfreesboro, TN
15	Wildens Leveque	F	6′-11″	230	FR	Brockton, MA
20	Alanzo Frink	F	6′-7″	260	SO	Jersey City, NJ
21	Maik Kotsar	F	6′-11″	270	SR	Tallinn, Estonia
23	Mike Green	G	6′-1″	188	FR	Myrtle Beach, SC
24	Keyshawn Bryant	F	6′-5″	197	SO	Winter Haven, FL
25	Seventh Woods	G	6′-2″	189	SR	Columbia, SC
52	Jair Bolden	G	6′-3″	215	JR	Brooklyn, NY

Auburn Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Tyrell Jones	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Chicago, IL
1	Jamal Johnson	G	6′-4″	195	SO	Birmingham, AL
2	Jaylin Williams	F	6′-7″	230	FR	Nahunta, GA
3	Danjel Purifoy	F	6′-7″	230	SR	Centreville, AL
4	Javon Franklin	F	6′-7″	218	SO	Little Rock, AR
5	J’Von McCormick	G	6′-0″	185	SR	New Orleans, LA
10	Samir Doughty	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Philadelphia, PA
12	Lior Berman	G	6′-4″	205	FR	Birmingham, AL
13	Babatunde Akingbola	C	6′-10″	236	FR	Ogun, Nigeria
14	Preston Cook	G	6′-4″	200	SO	Auburn, AL
20	Myles Parker	F	6′-8″	200	SO	Madison, AL
21	Will Macoy	G	6′-4″	200	SR	Birmingham, AL
22	Allen Flanigan	G	6′-5″	200	FR	Little Rock, AR
23	Isaac Okoro	F	6′-6″	225	FR	Powder Springs, GA
24	Anfernee McLemore	F	6′-7″	220	SR	Warwick, GA
33	Chase Maasdorp	G	6′-0″	175	SO	Lakewood Ranch, FL
35	Devan Cambridge	G	6′-6″	190	FR	Nashville, TN
50	Austin Wiley	C	6′-11″	260	SR	Hoover, AL
54	Thomas Collier	F	6′-9″	215	SR	Birmingham, AL

Scouting Report

Auburn (15-2, 3-2 SEC) The Auburn Tigers fell to Florida 69-47 on Saturday in Gainesville. The Gators earned this win with superior shooting and good defense. The Gators out-shot the Tigers 50%-26% from the field, 47%-17% from 3-point range and 78%-71% from the line. The Gators jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and pretty never looked back. Auburn did tie the game at 15 later but the Tigers would never lead. Three back to back successful 3-point shots by the Gators in the final three minutes of the game made the deficit much worse. Forward Omar Payne led the Gators in scoring with 19 points. Payne was an amazing 9 of 9 from field goal range and 1 of 1 from the line. He also had 11 rebounds to earn a double-double. Danjel Purifoy led the Tigers with 10 points. Florida out-rebounded the Tigers 44-29.

Guard Samir Doughty leads the Tigers in scoring (14.6 ppg). Okoro is the next leading scorer with 12.8 points a game. Center Austin Wiley is the top Tiger in rebounds, bringing down over 9 per game. Auburn is third in the SEC in scoring offense (78.9 ppg) and second in the conference in scoring margin (+11.5). The Tigers are fifth in the league in rebounding margin (+5.5) and first in blocked shots (6.0 bpg).

South Carolina (10-7, 2-2 SEC) defeated Texas A&M 81-67 on Saturday in College Station. This game was simply a case of the Gamecocks raining threes on the Aggies. The Gamecocks hit on an amazing 16 of 30 shots from beyond the arc. A&M, meanwhile, made just three of 14 shots from 3-point range. Interestingly, as hot as Gamecocks were, the Aggies were able to hang around for quite a while. South Carolina led 39-33 at the half. With just under 10 minutes remaining in the game the lead was just 4 at 57-53. USC added three more 3-pointers in final 3 minutes of the game, including one with 35 seconds to play, to add to their margin of victory. Carolina had five different players make three or more three pointers. Jair Bolden led the Gamecocks in scoring with 19 points. He was 5 of 7 from 3-point land. Big man Josh Nebo led the Aggies with 18 points, most of those points came at in the paint or at the line. A&M struggled in all shooting areas with just 40.9% (18/44) from the field, 21% from 3-point range (3/14) and 68.3% of free throws (28/41).

Guard AJ Lawson is the Gamecock’s leading scorer (13.8 ppg) so far this season. The 6-foot-3 Lawson is South Carolina’s biggest threat from 3-point range with 30 made 3-point shots. Maik Kotsar is the team’s top rebounder (6.1 rpg). Kotsar is a 6-foot-11, 270 pound monster from Estonia. USC is 10th in the SEC in scoring offense (69.9 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (66.1 ppg). The Gamecocks are the worst free shooting team in SEC basketball hitting just 61.3% of those shots. USC is 11th in the SEC in 3-point shooting (30.9%) and 11th in field goal shooting (42.7%). Defensively, the Gamecocks are third in the league in field goal defense, holding opponents to just 38.4% makes. The Gamecocks are also third in steals with 7.8 per game.

South Carolina has had a heck of a run the past week or so knocking off Kentucky at home and beating Texas A&M in College Station. Conversely, Auburn, who seemed to be the apparent juggernaut of the SEC in the first couple weeks of the season, has now lost two in a row. Playing at home look for Auburn to end their losing streak along A&M’s winning streak. However, the Tigers can’t afford to sleep on the Gamecocks.

South Carolina-Auburn Prediction

Auburn 76, South Carolina 71

Wednesday‘s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). TV: ESPNU.