When South Carolina takes the floor at Madison Square Garden Friday night, the Gamecocks will be looking to reach their first Elite Eight in program history. On the other hand, their opponent, the No. 3 Baylor Bears, is no stranger to this stage, having reached the Elite Eight in 2010 and 2012 and playing in the Sweet 16 as recently as 2014 under current head coach Scott Drew.
Before Frank Martin and the Gamecocks look to extend their season, let’s take a look at the keys to victory for both teams in Friday’s game.
Keys for South Carolina
South Carolina’s bigs have struggled with foul trouble all season, and there’s no doubt the Gamecocks have been better this season when Chris Silva is able to stay on the court. With Baylor’s towering post duo of Jonathan Motley and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., who average a combined 26.4 points and 16.7 rebounds per game, keeping Silva and Maik Kotsar on the court will be essential to controlling the glass.
On the offensive end, the charity stripe hasn’t been kind to South Carolina, as the team has shot under 70 percent at the free throw line this season. With two defenses allowing fewer than 65 points per game squaring off, baskets will likely be at a premium, and the Gamecocks won’t be able to squander opportunities for free points at the line.
Potentially the biggest key for South Carolina will be attacking the stingy Baylor zone defense. The Gamecocks caught fire after halftime against both Marquette and Duke, but settling for long jumpshots could cost them if they start cold. The Bears have a pair of strong rim protectors, but attacking from the inside out will be critical to avoid long scoreless stretches.
Quotable
“The way their bigs attack the rim right now and rebounding, and the way they attack at that paint and the way the guys make shots right now is just, they're a good team. We're going to have a tough matchup.” — Sindarius Thornwell, senior guard
Keys for Baylor
Baylor allows opponents to score 63.5 points per game and its defense ranks 20th nationally in field goal defense, allowing 45.9 percent. During league play, Baylor led the Big 12 in field goal defense (41 percent), rebounding (38.3 percent) and rebounding margin (+9.5). Under Drew, the Bears rank 13th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency this season.
Thornwell leads the SEC in steals with 2.2 per game, which could wreak havoc on the turnover-prone Bears on the offensive end. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Baylor committed 12 turnovers against Southern Cal. The Bears committed a season-high 29 turnovers in a blowout loss to West Virginia on Jan. 10. Conversely, the Gamecocks forced Duke to 18 turnovers Sunday, which was the 28th time this season they forced at least 15 turnovers in a game.
In the paint, Baylor will have a significant height advantage. Led by Lual-Acuil Jr. and Motley, the Bears are known for the size of their starting front court. Lual-Acuil Jr., a junior center, stands 7-feet tall, while the junior forward Motley comes in at 6-foot-10. South Carolina’s starting forwards, Silva and Kotsar, are 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-10, respectively.
Quotable
“Their defense is amazing. They have a lot of help side defense -- they know their principles and that's what makes them even better, because their offense is going to come with Sindarius (Thornwell) and with Duane (Notice) and their bigs, they understand the offense. But defense, that's one thing that they pride their self about. So I do see, we see a lot of similarity with West Virginia and South Carolina and if we just take care of business and do what our coaches tell us to do we should be successful.” — Ishmail Wainright, senior guard