The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Flordia Gators by the score of 72-69.  The win moves USC to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern conference play. 

USC got the win as we described in our preview.  Yes we said a win by five points but we will take a three point win.  USC did what they needed to do by limiting the UF inside game as best they could, playing good defense on the UF guards and South Carolina got some three balls to fall at the right times.  One big reason they got the win was due to the rebounding advantage (36-32).  South Carolina was 11 of 15 from the foul line and 7 of 21 from behind the arc.

Gamecock MVP  of the game was Bruce Ellington, with his stat line -- 23 Pts, 4 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl.  He also got great support from Brian Richardson, Lakeem Jackson and Sam Muldrow who each added 10 points apiece. 

Bruce Ellington is stating his case early for SEC Freshman of the Year.  He is the engine for the team but again they are only as good as Muldrow plays.  In this game, he did his job and made a clutch three down the stretch to help seal a win.  South Carolina is doing really good with three games down in SEC play.  Beating Florida with a RPI of 4 is the wins that state your case for postseason play.  But the season is young and the Razorbacks are coming to town.  One game at a time.... 

Gamecocks Next Five Games:

01/19 ARK 8:00pm
01/22 UK 6:00pm
01/29 AUB 1:30pm
02/02 @LSU 8:00pm
02/05 @VAN 1:30pm

The South Carolina basketball squad (10-5, 1-1 SEC) travels to the University of Florida (13-3, 2-0 SEC) to clash with them on the hardwood.  USC needs to rebound after a poor outing against Alabama and defeat the Gators.  Winning against UF would be a nice resume builder for South Carolina as UF is number 4 in the RPI Top 50 (SC is #110). 

Let's break this game down a bit further and give you some USC keys to a Gator beating...

The Gamecocks of South Carolina traveled to Alabama looking for a soul to steal or at least a win against the Crimson Tide.  That goal was short lived really from the moment they tipped off due to poor shooting, poor rebounding and twenty turnovers.  The tri-fecta of bad play and a loss.

Let's breakdown the game a bit further...

Well hopefully the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team will suffer the same fate as their football program did against South Carolina this past fall.  That means a loss for those in the dark.  The Gamecocks will have their hands full tonight as the Tide is riding a six game winning streak.  But the Gamecocks are coming in off a great victory over Vanderbilt in overtime.  The Gamecocks (10-4) are ranked at #108 in the RPI and the Crimson Tide (9-6) are ranked lower at #158.  Loser of this SEC clash will move to 1-1 in conference play.

Game is on CSS and will come on at 9pm on the east coast.

For South Carolina to win, three things must be done....

With the start of the Southeastern Conference Basketball games, so to begins the 2011 SEC Basketball Power Poll.  This is week one and this blog has been chosen to participate once again.  Each week we will bring you our view on who we feel is the best in the SEC.

Please look to the bottom left on this screen to see the SEC Basketball Power Poll Voters in 2011.

Here is our week one ballot -

If you read this Gamecocks Blog you know we cover all of the USC sports programs, we do not shy away from providing our opinion on how things go down from recruiting to the Gamecock Club.  Well, we recently gave USC men's basketball player Sam Muldrow a lot of flack after some poor outings and last night he totally redeemed himself with a triple-double.  So this is our public apology to the big guy as he played like a man among boys in aiding his team's efforts in beating Vandy to earn the first SEC win for Coach Horn this season.

Why the flack in the first place?  Well, let's explain...

Each week this Gamecocks Blog joins forces with the best college basketball writers on the Bloguin network to weigh in on who are the four best teams in our view and who is the best non-BCS school.

By clicking - Here - you can see what the all the ballots show as who the best in college basketball is currently to us bloggers. 

Here is how we voted this week -

The USC Gamecocks stunned the Vanderbilt Commodores in overtime by the score of 83-75.  The win was tremendous for USC as they battled from being down 14 points to get the victory on their home court.  South Carolina was led by Sam Muldrow, who had a triple-double, and Bruce Ellington with his 22 point effort.

This win moves USC to 1-0 in SEC play and 10-4 overall.

In our preview, we asked for USC to surprise us and they did.  We also laid out that the Gamecocks needed to accomplish three things to win so let's review this game -

The fans in the Colonial Center on Saturday and those watching on ESPN2 will be in store for a hard fought SEC basketball clash as the USC Gamecocks host the VU Commodores at 5:00 pm tonight.

Acquiring a win versus Vanderbilt would be huge for Coach Horn's squad in kicking off the 2011 SEC campaign.  The 'Dores are a Top 25 team, ranked #22, so South Carolina will need to step up on all levels to get the win tonight.   USC is 0-2 record against nationally ranked teams thus far but remember Kentucky in 2010, meaning USC can overcome what may be viewed as impossible. Overall, the Gamecocks have a record of 9-4 and are playing their first SEC game. The Commodores, heading into their first SEC clash, have a respectable 11-2 record and a #18 RPI.

Let's break this game down a bit...

That time again to weigh in on who we view are the best players in college basketball as the season is entering the all important conference games.  It is hard to imagine that March Madness is right around the corner.  Let us know if you agree with who we feel are the ten best players in the nation currently.

Below is our list for Month Two -

1st Team All-American Team
Kyle Singler, Forward (Duke)
Jimmer Fredette, Guard (BYU)
JaJuan Johnson, Forward (Purdue)
Jared Sullinger, Center (Ohio State)
Kemba Walker, Guard (UCONN)
 
2nd Team All-American Team
Jon Leurer, Forward (Wisconsin)
Nolan Smith, Guard (Duke
Jacob Pullen, Guard (Kansas State)
Kawhi Leonard, Forward (San Diego State)
Kris Joseph, Forward (Syracuse)

Here is the final list - HERE.

Also you can view our Preseason Ballot and Month One Ballot.  So who did I leave off in your view?