March 11, 2006

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Game 32 o Kentucky vs. South Carolina o March 11, 2006 o Gaylord Entertainment Center o Nashville, Tenn.

Tipoff: 1:05 pm (EST)
TV: JP (Tom Hammond, Larry Conley)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
Series Record: UK leads series 36-6
In Columbia: UK leads series 14-4
In Lexington: UK leads series 18-1
Neutral site: UK leads series 4-1
Last Meeting: Kentucky won 66-79 on Feb. 18, 2006 in Columbia (see box scores for both box scores this season)

South Carolina
Head Coach: Dave Odom
USC Record: 94-69 (5th year)
Overall Record: 372-243 (20th year)
Record vs. UK: 2-12 (1-4 H, 0-5 A, 1-3 N)

Kentucky
Coach: Tubby Smith (High Point, 1973)
UK Record: 239-69 (9th year)
Overall Record: 363-131 (15th year)
Record vs. USC:?24-5

Probable Starters for the Kentucky game (from previous game)South Carolina Gamecocks (16-14, 6-10 SEC)  PPG RPG     APGF   #14 Antoine Tisby (6-8, 237, Sr., Kansas City, Kan.)   5.5 2.9     0.7*F   #21 Tarence Kinsey (6-6, 189, Sr., Tampa, Fla.)   15.3    4.6     2.1C   #33 Brandon Wallace (6-10, 198, Jr., Jackson, S.C.)  7.5 6.1     2.2G   #01 Tre' Kelley (6-1, 183, Jr., Washington, D.C.) 12.0    2.8     4.5G   #10 Rocky Trice (6-3, 163, Sr., Swainsboro, Ga.) 7.0 3.1     1.6

Kentucky Wildcats (21-11, 9-7 SEC)  PPG RPGF   #13 Bobby Perry (6-6, 219, Jr., Durham, N.C.)   6.3 3.7C   #33 Randolph Morris (6-10, 266, So., Atlanta, Ga.)  13.6    5.8G   #22 Patrick Sparks (6-0, 180, Sr., Central City, Ky.)   9.3 2.0G   #4  Rajon Rondo (6-1, 171, So., Louisville, Ky.)    11.5    6.0G   #32 Joe Crawford (6-4, 210, So., Detroit, Mich.)    10.7    3.9* - Blocks per game

Cock Calls
1 Kelley 25 PT (9-10 from FT) in win over UT; Has started every game; 17x in double figures; 21x 4+ apg
2 McDowell Played in 24 games this season; Career high 12 vs. Winthrop
4 Sheldon Played 11+ minutes in eight of the last 10 games including career-high 24 vs. MSU
5 Archie The only freshman scholarship player on the squad — will be redshirted this year
10 Trice Superb defense shut down UT’s Chris Lofton – scoring 8 PT of his own; 21 starts on the season including six straight
12 Nerbun Only walk-on the team this season; Played 2 MIN, w/ 1 3PT ATT vs. SCSU
14 Tisby Tied career-best with 9 REB vs. No. 21 LSU; started 4th straight game vs. UT
20 Palacios Grabbed a season high four rebounds against Auburn in the regular season finale
21 Kinsey 1077 career points (No. 31); Hit a 3 in 26 of 31 games; 11 of 20 from 3 after going 3-26 in previous 5 games
23 Day Has 10 starts in 29 games played this season; Did not play at Auburn
24 Konate Has not played since 1-25 due to ankle injury; Played in 13 games this year
33 Wallace Another solid game vs. UT – 8 PT, 5 REB, 3 BLK, 3 STL; Tops in BLK, REB; 2nd in AST; 4 double-doubles this year (5 career)
34 Balkman Fine game off the bench in win over UT (16 PT, 7 REB, 3 STL); Game-high 12 PT vs. MSU; 6+ in 18 games this season

A Few Things
* Carolina is 18-12 under Coach Odom in the month of March. Since joining the league in 1991-92, SC is now 34-33 in March.

* USC is in the semi-finals for the third time in five years under Odom. They lost 57-65 to Alabama in 2002 and 63-78 in 2004 to Kentucky, but neither team had played on Thursday as Kentucky did this year.

* USC turned the ball over just four times in its win over Mississippi State on Thursday – the fewest turnovers since USC turned it over just four times in a 75-77 loss to Florida on Jan. 18, 2003. On the flip side UT’s 21 TO in its loss to Carolina on Friday were just one below a season-high for opponents with UNC Greensboro’s 22 TO on Nov. 30, 2005 being the worst for an opponent.

* Tarence Kinsey moved up to No. 31 on the career points list (1077) – just two away from Brian Winters.

* If he would start the Kentucky game, Tre’ Kelley will jump to No. 6 on the single season list for games started at 32 – joining three others. Others on career lists: Brandon Wallace is No. 5 in career blocked shots and Renaldo Balkman is No. 7.

* Tarence Kinsey has scored 20+ points nine times this season and a career best 24 points three times. Prior to this season, in 85 games he had only scored 20+ points twice.

* In addition to Kinsey, Tre’ Kelley has hit 20+ four times this season – including 25 in the win over No. 14 Tennessee – and Renaldo Balkman has hit it once.

* USC won three SEC road games this season (at Vandy, Florida, Auburn), matching the same total of 2004 (at Auburn, Vandy, Georgia). The last time USC won four SEC road games: 1998 (at Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Florida).

* The win at Auburn was Odom’s 370th win as a head coach and he needs six more wins to hit 100 wins at USC.