The South Carolina Gamecocks (9-11, 1-5) will travel to Gainesville, Fla. tonight to take on No. 11 Florida (17-4, 5-1) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
USC has had trouble this year closing out games and playing two full halves of basketball, but they were able to put it together last Wednesday night with a 56-54 upset win over Alabama (14-7, 3-4).
Looking to build on that win last Saturday in Oxford, MS, however, the Gamecocks found themselves moving backwards again with a 66-62 loss to Ole Miss after senior Malik Cooke missed a late free throw with a chance to tie the game.
Despite that loss, Head Coach Darrin Horn remains optimistic that his team can continue to improve.
“Our focus has continued to be the same thing,” Horn said. “Let’s keep getting better. We definitely made progress on the road at Ole Miss, we had a chance to win the game. That’s what you want to do in league play on the road. We missed a free throw and credit their kid for making a shot.”
If South Carolina is going to want to get back in the win column Thursday night, they're going to have to defeat a very stout Gator team.
Florida's offense has come on strong lately as the Gators have won five straight since dropping a 67-56 affair at Tennessee in early January, including a comeback 79-65 win at South Carolina two weeks ago. The Gators have averaged just over 71 points per game during their five game winning streak and are top 10 in the country in points per game, averaging over 80 per contest overall this season.
“We have got a very dangerous Florida team coming up,” Horn said. “They’re essentially leading the country in three-point shooting. I think if you say that you have to go in and shut down their three-point shooting, well that isn’t going to happen, they put up 26 a game. Some are going to drop in. I think what we have to do is eliminate some of the easy ones that come off of our mistakes where we have a bad turnover and it leads to a transition tbree.”
The Gamecocks have gotten used to playing top ranked teams this season. South Carolina has played three top five teams so far this year and will be taking on No. 1 Kentucky this Saturday at home. The high ranking does not intimidate the Gamecocks however, as they are still focused on winning ball games.
Damien Leonard will be in the starting lineup again tonight despite his poor shooting lately. He shares USC's frustration, as the Gamecocks are desperate for a few victories.
“I just want to win,” Leonard said. “I just want to go out there and play hard and do what the coaches want me to do.”
No comments:
Post a Comment