GAME INFORMATION
Game Date: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014
Time: 12:00 p.m. EST
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Broadcast: ESPN
Series: Baylor leads 3-2
Last Meeting: 66-64 Baylor win, Nov. 12, 2013, in Waco, Texas
The Baylor Bears travel to Columbia, South Carolina to complete the home-and-home series with South Carolina begun last season. Baylor is coming off a convincingly large win over McNeese State (39-80), but the quality of competition will surely increase with the Frank Martin-led Gamecocks next on the schedule.
Offensively for the Bears, Kenny Chery and Lester Medford have to set the tone from the start with the passing game. Clean passes are necessary against this Gamecock defense, which forced 15 turnovers against North Florida. The perimeter passing was decent against McNeese State and it must remain so in order to stop any potential of a Gamecock fast break. For a team that is short on size, the Bears actually match up quite well with South Carolina.
The Gamecocks don't have a star player that can power through the opposition like butter, but they do have a lot of players who contribute each night. The Gamecocks return 71.3 percent (1,658/2,323) of their scoring from last season. The biggest void was left by the graduation of senior guard Brenton Williams who tallied 505 points.
Their first win of the season proved to be a team effort: no one player had more than Tyrone Johnson's 12 points, but nine players had at least 6 points and six players had at least 8.
South Carolina senior guard Ty Johnson is coming off of a season-ending foot injury that he suffered against Texas A&M on January 15, 2014. Johnson is a quick, versatile guard who, although limited in total games, finished with the third most assists and the sixth most points on the team at the conclusion of last season. Against UNF, Johnson posted a a game-high 12 points, but was restricted in his minutes due to a mild finger sprain, which Martin says it should not have any affect on his game and will be back for the Game against Baylor.
This game will be broadcast on ESPN at 12:00 p.m. EST.