LSU vs. South Carolina: Full Game Preview

LSU

(13-8, 2-6 away)

South Carolina

(12-11, 9-6 home)

Venue: Colonial Life Arena

7:00PM ET / 4:00PM PT, February 14, 2013

Team Leaders

	Points	Rebounds	Assists
LSU	J O`Bryant III 12.3	J O`Bryant III 8.5	A Hickey 3.7
South Carolina	L Page 11.7	M Carrera 7.2	E Smith 3.1

On Thursday, LSU heads to Colonial Life Arena to take on South Carolina. Tipoff occurs at 7 p.m. EST and you can catch it on ESPN 2. The Tigers lost to the Gamecocks 82-73 on Jan. 16 and are 2-3 against them over the last four years.

LSU is currently in ninth place in the conference and South Carolina is in 13th.

In spite of 22 points and 11 rebounds from Johnny O`Bryant III, the Tigers came up short 60-57 against Alabama on Feb. 9. On top of his scoring average of 12.3 points per game, he delivers 8.5 rebounds per game. For the Gamecocks, Michael Carrera finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the 66-61 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 10. He is averaging 11.1 points per game in addition to a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game. One category in which South Carolina is especially proficient is offensive rebounding percentage at 39.5 percent, ranking second in their conference (and 11th nationally).

South Carolina StatSmack

The LSU rebounding leader (Johnny O`Bryant III, 161 rebounds) has more rebounds than the South Carolina rebounding leader (Lakeem Jackson, 146 rebounds).
AP voters think more highly of LSU and ranked them in the AP Top 25 more often over the past 10 years than South Carolina (37 vs. 12).
LSU is ranked higher than South Carolina in the SEC (No. 8 vs. No. 13).
Diaper Dandies love LSU. LSU has recruited more McDonald's All-Americans out of high school than South Carolina (14 vs. 3).
LSU has more NCAA Tournament wins over the last 10 years than South Carolina (five vs. zero).
Charles Carmouche is ranked 5th in the SEC in steals.
The LSU blocks leader (Andrew Del Piero, 23 blocks) has more blocks than the South Carolina blocks leader (Lakeem Jackson, 17 blocks).
LSU has a better record at home than South Carolina this season (11-2 vs. 8-6).
LSU has more NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 10 years than South Carolina (four vs. one).
Even computers respect LSU more. LSU has a better RPI this season than South Carolina (RPI: No. 109 vs. No. 212).
Since 1998, LSU has recruited more Top 50 high school players than South Carolina (nine vs. three).

LSU Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
B	Anthony Hickey	31	12	4	4	3	0	2
B-	Shavon Coleman	30	11	7	1	1	1	2
B-	J. O`Bryant III	27	12	8	1	0	1	3
C+	C. Carmouche	24	9	4	4	2	0	2
C	Andre Stringer	30	11	2	2	1	0	2
C	Malik Morgan	20	6	3	1	2	0	1
D+	Eddie Ludwig	12	3	3	1	0	0	2
D+	A. Del Piero	12	4	3	0	0	1	1
D+	Shane Hammink	12	2	2	1	0	0	1
D	Corban Collins	11	4	1	1	0	0	1
D	Jalen Courtney	9	2	2	0	0	0	1
D-	Joshua Badeaux	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
D-	Mychal Williams	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
D-	Dave Jackson	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

USC Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
C+	Michael Carrera	22	11	7	1	0	1	2
C	Lakeem Jackson	31	8	6	2	1	1	2
C	LaShay Page	24	12	3	1	0	0	2
C	B. Williams	22	10	2	1	1	0	1
C	Bruce Ellington	31	10	3	2	1	0	4
C-	B. Richardson	19	9	3	1	1	0	1
C-	M. Kacinas	22	6	4	1	0	1	2
D+	Eric Smith	27	6	1	3	1	0	2
D+	RJ Slawson	17	5	4	1	1	1	1
D	L. Chatkevicius	10	4	2	1	0	0	1
D	Damien Leonard	15	4	2	1	0	0	1
D	A. Constable	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
D-	Brian Steele	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
F	Shane Phillips	2	0	0	0	0	0	0