PREVIEW: Gamecocks Basketball Hosts North Alabama To Begin The 2019-2020 Season

On By CPhilly19In Basketball

South Carolina plays North Alabama in what should be an easy non-conference win for Frank Martin.

South Carolina is coming off of a fourth place finish in the SEC, and they should be even better than last year.

North Alabama finished sixth in the ASUN conference with a 10-22 record.

South Carolina will have to play without sophomore Keyshawn Bryant, who has already proven to be a very good player.

South Carolina will have to look to some of their younger players to replace Bryant.

I expect Jalyn McCreary to be the man to replace Bryant. McCreary put up 15 points in only 17 minutes in the win over Columbia International University.

AJ Lawson will be the main player to watch. Lawson has already proven to be one of the best point guards in the SEC, and he will definitely garner national attention if he continues to improve.

Senior Maik Kotsar should also play really well against a relatively weak opponent.

North Alabama will be led by sophomore Jamari Blackmon, who averaged 14.6 points per game last season as a freshman.

Blackmon also averaged 1.8 steals per game last season.

South Carolina will also have to look out for sophomore Emanuel Littles, who averaged eight rebounds per game last year.

These two will have surely improved since their Freshman year, and they shouldn’t be ignored.

South Carolina should win this one easily, but the Gamecocks also are dealing with some injuries.

AJ Lawson will be the player of the game, as I expect South Carolina to win 74-52 and move to 1-0 on the season.

Leave a Reply