GAME NOTES: The South Carolina Gamecocks and Kentucky Wildcats are set to collide in SEC action this afternoon at Rupp Arena in Lexington. South Carolina has lost four of its last five games to fall to 9-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The Gamecocks were last in action on Wednesday against Florida, and that tilt resulted in a 73-71 setback. They have only played three true road games to date, and two of those have ended in defeat. As for Kentucky, it has endured plenty of disappointment under first-year head coach Billy Gillispie, but Tuesday's 72-66 upset of third-ranked Tennessee gave fans of the program something to cheer about. That triumph was the first for UK over a top-five opponent since December of 2005. The surprising victory halted a two-game slide for the Wildcats, who are 8-9 overall and 2-2 in league play. All eight of their wins have come at home this season, an obvious reason for confidence today. Kentucky holds a 39-7 series advantage over South Carolina, including a 95-89 decision over the Gamecocks in the most recent meeting last season.

In the narrow loss to Florida on Wednesday, South Carolina guard Devan Downey proved once again that he is among the top players in the SEC. Downey did all he could to keep his Gamecocks close, scoring 24 points despite constant hounding by the Gators. Still, the standout did miss 4-of-6 free throws, putting a damper on an otherwise outstanding effort. Zam Fredrick tallied 19 points for USC, while Dominique Archie finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Gamecocks shot the ball better from the floor than did their counterparts, but more turnovers and less points from the charity stripe proved costly. Downey is averaging 19.9 ppg and 5.0 rpg, outstanding numbers by any standards. Fredrick checks in with 16.1 ppg, while Archie is posting 10.4 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

Kentucky relies heavily on the big three of Patrick Patterson, Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford to carry the load offensively. Patterson, although just a freshman, has been dominant at times on the low block. The big man is scoring 16.8 ppg to go along with 8.0 rpg and 24 blocked shots. Bradley is netting 16.1 ppg to go along with team-high totals of 56 assists and 27 steals, while Crawford contributes 16.0 ppg. The fact that Kentucky is one game below .500 this season despite limiting opponents to 38.8 percent shooting from the floor is perplexing. In the thrilling win over Tennessee, Patterson scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Bradley pitched in 16 points, and Perry Stevenson added 14.

Kentucky figures to have drawn a great deal of confidence from the win over Tennessee, and the 'Cats will carry that momentum into today's tilt. Despite the talents of Downey, his Gamecocks will fall short.