With a 12-6 lifetime record against South Carolina, Western Kentucky men’s basketball coach Rick Stansbury has enjoyed plenty of success in his career coaching against the Gamecocks.
As for the Hilltoppers? Not so much. WKU has lost six of seven matchups all-time against South Carolina, and not even Stansbury could make that mark better the last time the Tops faced the Gamecocks – a 75-64 South Carolina win in the Asheville Championship consolation game on Nov. 14, 2021, played at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
WKU is 0-3 when facing the Gamecocks tonight in Columbia, S.C. – which is where the Tops will try for their first win against a Power Five program this season. Game time is 6 p.m. CT at Colonial Life Arena and will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.
WKU (8-2) is coming off a 94-83 road loss to then-winless Louisville, a game the Hilltoppers struggled to tamp down the Cardinals’ hot shooting – particularly from beyond the 3-point arc, where they hit 12-of-25 attempts – at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville point guard El Ellis was unstoppable, finishing with game highs of 30 points and 10 assists.
“Disappointed that we couldn’t come up here and win,” Stansbury said after the Louisville loss. “We knew it was going to be difficult. But again, like I said, Louisville tonight was exceptional.”
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and dropped the Tops’ record to 11-10 against Power Five teams since the start of the 2017-18 season.
There were bright spots even in the deflating loss to the Cards. Dayvion McKnight delivered another strong scoring effort with 25 points, while Jairus Hamilton posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Emmanuel Akot chipped in with 12 points. The Hilltoppers outrebounded Louisville 37-29, stayed even on turnovers and didn’t shoot badly (33-of-70 for 47.1%).
“We outrebounded a fairly big, athletic team by 10 – as a coach, there’s no moral victories,” Stansbury said. “But as we said at halftime, let’s make sure we leave – win or lose, let’s make sure we leave everything between the lines. And we did.”
McKnight continues to lead the Hilltoppers in scoring with 15.4 points per game, while Akot is averaging 13, Luke Frampton – who still ranks third in the nation in 3-point percentage (54.4%) – is holding at 11.4 points and Jairus Hamilton is averaging 10.5 points per outing. Jarmarion Sharp, the Tops’ 7-foot-5 center, leads the country in total blocks (46) and blocks per game (4.6) as a unique asset on defense.
Some good news for WKU is the potential return of redshirt junior guard/forward Dontaie Allen, who has sat out the last seven games starting with the Cayman Islands Classic due to eligibility issues that occurred at Kentucky before he transferred to WKU.
Stansbury said Allen wasn’t academically eligible to play for UK during the spring, and the NCAA fined Kentucky $500 for each of the seven games he participated in – with WKU planning to sit Allen for seven games, a stretch that ended with the Louisville game. Allen, a 6-foot-6 wing who is a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball, was averaging 8 points per game as a key reserve in the three games he played before the eligibility issues arose.
Looking to close out the non-conference schedule with a win, the Tops face a South Carolina team that has lost two straight – the latest a 64-56 defeat to East Carolina in the Charleston Classic on Dec. 17 in Charleston, S.C.
South Carolina (5-6) is 4-0 at home this season, including an 80-77 win against South Carolina State on Nov. 7 – WKU beat South Carolina State 90-64 on Nov. 26 at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The Gamecocks have some size in the frontcourt with 6-9 forwards Gregory “GG” Jackson II (17 points, 6.6 rebounds) and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (4.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Forward Hayden Brown (11.9 ppg 4.4 rpg) and guards Meechie Johnson (9.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Chico Carter Jr. (11.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg) round out the probable starting lineup for first-year coach Lamont Paris.
South Carolina is averaging 64 points per game, while allowing 70.5 points per outing this season.
