Auburn preparing for 'physical' South Carolina team
Bruce Pearl talks a lot about making history, and his team, along with South Carolina will be doing that Wednesday night.
When Auburn and South Carolina tip off Wednesday night, it'll be the first time the teams have matched up while both were ranked.
More importantly, the teams are separated by a game at the top of the SEC standings with South Carolina at 9-2 in conference and Auburn at 8-3.
It's similar to the Alabama game for Auburn: win to stay alive for the SEC crown.
"If we want to win the (SEC) championship, we have to beat South Carolina tomorrow," Pearl said. "Pretty simple. Already being a game behind them, two games behind them with six then to go would be something I don't think we would be able to overcome."
The Gamecocks, who were picked to finish last in the conference, have been the surprise of the season in the SEC.
After a massive struggle in his first season in Columbia, Lamont Paris and his slow, suffocating style of ball has thrust the Gamecocks into SEC title contention, and he's earned coach of the year talks because of it.
"Coach Paris, in my mind -- it would be hard to think of anybody else that would be the coach of the year in our league," Pearl said. "In the sense that he was picked last and they're currently first, or tied for first with Alabama. He and his staff have done a tremendous job of rebuilding and putting together a really, really competitive roster."
Ever since Paris became a head coach, his teams have always been towards the bottom of the country in tempo, and this season the Gamecocks are 355th (out of 362 teams) in terms of adjusted tempo. Because of this, their games tend to be lower scoring as the most amount of points the Gamecocks have allowed in a game this season is 74.
"It should be no surprise that South Carolina leads the SEC in scoring defense," Pearl said. "Sixty-five points a game is not a lot of points. This game will be done with defense and rebounding. Obviously, we'll have to do a better job of executing."
On paper, the Gamecocks are a small team with their tallest player being 6-foot-8, but they make up for that by being a lengthy, physical team, especially in the frontcourt.
B.J. Mack, a transfer from Wofford, stands at 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, but he has the shot diet of a guard as he has taken more jump shots than shots around the rim this season.
Pairing him is Collin Murray-Boyles, a freshman who put up 31 points in the Gamecocks' previous game.
"They are a physical team," said Johni Broome. "They brought in a physical forward, B.J. Mack, a veteran. They got Josh Gray, he’s a veteran. They got Murray-Boyles, their freshman. He’s very good and talented. He’s got good touch. He’s physical. He has long arms."
Ta'lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson make up Carolina's starting backcourt with the two having a combined nine years of experience between them.
Of the two, Johnson is more of the pure scorer as he averages 14 points per game on a true shooting of 54 percent. He is the Gamecocks' leading scorer
Cooper, Broome's former teammate at Morehead State, is a traditional, efficient floor general as he averages just over 10 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 64.4, which is top 50 in the country. He also averages 4.4 assists compared to just 1.2 turnovers per game.
"He’s a very elite point guard," Broome said. "He’s a floor general, I’d say. He wants plays to get his team going. I think a big way to stop them is to contain him."
"I said to our guards, ‘Keep him under control cause their team goes as far as he goes.’ We got to do a good job of that."
Despite their 21-3 record, the computers are not in love with the Gamecocks as they are No. 40 on T-Rank and outside the top 40 on KenPom, EvanMiya and the NET.
South Carolina plays a style that computers don't love, but all Pearl and Auburn see are records of 21-3 and 9-2 in conference.
"It's going to be a real challenge because they've only lost three games," Pearl said. "There's obviously a reason for that. They have great inside-out play. They've got great guard play, physical guard play."
Auburn and South Carolina tip off at 7:30 CT. The game will air on the SEC Network.