South Carolina Basketball: Keys to the Gamecocks winning the SEC Tournament
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Basketball's Keys to Success in the SEC Tournament:
Rebounding
South Carolina does not have any player on the roster who averages more than 5.7 rebounds per game. However, the Gamecocks' 5 starters all average at least 3.5 boards, and 8 different players have pulled down at least 8 rebounds in a game this season. In short, the reason why South Carolina has outrebounded their opponents in 2/3 of their games this year is because of a group effort on the glass.
That group effort is critical to USC wins.
In four of their 6 losses this season, the Gamecocks were outrebounded (and in the other two, they won the battle by a combined 3 boards). In their wins, Carolina won the rebounding battle 925 to 811. Those numbers helped Lamont Paris' team rank 2nd in the SEC in fewest rebounds surrendered to opponents.
The two best rebounders on the team are Collin Murray-Boyles and Josh Gray, but BJ Mack has a 13-rebound performance on his ledger this season, too. The top-3 forwards on the team must do their part on the boards for the Gamecocks to have success in the SEC Tournament.