Game Preview - at South Carolina

17 days after their last meeting, the Tide and Gamecocks will meet again, this time in Columbia. In that first game our beloved Crimson Tide handed South Carolina its first loss of the season by a score of 73-50. No doubt Carolina will be looking for payback and a win to keep pace at the top of the SEC standings. The game time is 5:00 PM. The game can be seen on SEC Network for those of you not making the trip to the Palmetto State.

Stats

Alabama		South Carolina
66.8	PPG	78.2
66.5	OPP	67.9
.430	FG%	.441
.400	OPP	.387
50.2	EFG%	49.1
46.2	OPP	46.6
.336	3PT%	.341
.338	OPP	.354
.651	FT%	.674
.682	OPP	.683
39.5	FTRate	50.7
37.2	OPP	38.0
34.7	RPG	42.3
37.4	OPP	32.3
27.6	OREB%	39.4
33.0	OPP	26.3
13.9	TOPG	14.6
13.2	OPP	15.6
20.7	TO%	19.8
19.6	OPP	20.8

The development of Michael Carrera in four seasons has been astonishing. Carrera began his career as an undersized post player who was known primarily for getting by on pure effort, usually in the form of rebounding and hustle plays. He continues to do those small things that make him the type of guy opposing fans love to hate, but he's also developed into a nice offensive option for Frank Martin. He currently leads the team in scoring (13.7) and rebounding (7.1). He's making 50% of his shot attempts (45% from 3) and 79% from the free throw line. He was the only Gamecock player who had a nice game in the last meeting, finishing with 14 pts, 10 rebs.

The four veteran players for this Carolina team - Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice, Mindaugas Kacinas and Laimonas Chatkevicius - continue to produce, all four are averaging double figures. And the freshmen, PJ Dozier and Chris Silva, continue to show improvement. This remains a solid team, though perhaps not as dynamic as other teams in the conference.

South Carolina is the better team, but they're not light years ahead of Alabama; the game in Tuscaloosa proved that. To win this one, Alabama will need a similar performance from the 3 point line (shot 46% from 3 in game one) and on the defensive end (South Carolina shot 35% from the field, 16% from 3, and 18 turnovers), while taking better care of the ball (17 turnovers in game one) and the free throw line (57%). This game has been announced as a sellout so the environment will likely be loud, hostile, and Alabama will have to get off to a good start.