The South Carolina Gamecocks (2-0) play the DePaul Blue Demons (1-1) at Virgin Islands Sport & Fitness Center. The game begins at 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Nov. 20 and will air on CCS.
The Gamecocks come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, thoroughly outplaying Oral Roberts 84-66 on Monday. Laimonas Chatkevicius was the team’s leading scorer with 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting. The Blue Demons are coming off a 68-62 loss against Penn State on Tuesday. Myke Henry had a good shooting night, leading the team with 17 points.
South Carolina is a five-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 144 points. The Gamecocks have started off well with a 2-0 record Straight Up (SU) as well as Against The Spread (ATS). The Gamecocks have a distinct advantage on the boards in this matchup. They are the 46th-ranked rebounding team in Division I, averaging 45.0 per game, while the Blue Demons rank 221st in the nation with 36.5 per game. South Carolina is very careful and attentive with the ball, averaging the 25th-fewest turnovers per game at only 9.5.
On the other side, DePaul has identical records of 1-1 SU and ATS so far.
This game will be the first meeting for South Carolina and DePaul in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – SC, ATS Winner – SC, O/U – Over
Notes
South Carolina averages 84.0 points per game (ranked 77th). DePaul, on the other hand, allows 65.5 points per game (ranked 101st).
On average, South Carolina has 71.7 possessions per game and scores 1.172 points on each possession. DePaul has both fewer possessions (65.7) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.997).
DePaul has an average effective field goal percentage of 43.4%. South Carolina is undefeated (2-0) when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
South Carolina ranks 55th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.53. DePaul is ranked lower at 332nd with an A/TO of .61.
The South Carolina Gamecocks are the fifth-ranked team in offensive rebounds, while the DePaul Blue Demons are the 296th-ranked team in defensive rebounds.
