The Tennessee Volunteers (18-10, 9-5) head south to challenge the South Carolina Gamecocks (20-7, 9-5) for the SEC East title tonight at 7:00 EST. Woo for tipoffs that aren't at 9:00 because I'm old and need my sleep. Win this one, and it will be the Vols' first streak of three wins in a row against SEC competition. Hopefully, Wayne Chism can garner more than just fouls like he did last time against the Gamecocks. On a happier note, the team seems to be loose, and shooters Scotty Hopson and Renaldo Woolridge have recently been both gettting better and getting humbled by coach Jason Shay:

"How about a game of Pig?'' Shay offered, referring to an abbreviated game of ``Horse'' beyond the 3-point line.

Woolridge, a fun-loving freshman with an infectious smile and serious 3-point range, readily agreed.

Hopson, playing with more confidence at this stage of the season than ever, smiled and rubbed his hands together, awaiting the chance to beat his coach.

I yelled out to the players I was gonna blog about it.

Hopson smiled:"Griff's gonna write about it huh?''

That seemed fine with them.

But then Shay won the first game. And the second game. And the third game.

The players laughed through the first loss.

They tried to intimidate Shay with trash talk in the second game - Shay talked trash back, much to their disbelief and amusement, at one point running down the court after making a shot with his hands held up.

"He's out of shape,'' one of the freshman teased Shay.

"Yeah?'' Shay replied, "What's your excuse?''

Gotta love that.

Observations from the stats

South Carolina simply looks to be the better team on paper after nearly a season's worth of play. Tennessee's better from the free throw line, at rebounding and distributing the ball, and protecting the ball, but other than that, the Gamecocks just look to have the advantage in most facets of the game.

Gamecock players to watch

Devan Downey is averaging 20 points, four assists, and three steals per game. He's an undersized, speedy guard, which should be about all you need to know this season. Yeah, we did hold him to four points in the first half when we played earlier in the season, but he finished with his average.

Other Stuff

KenPom's prediction: Tennessee loses 78-81, with only a 40% chance of winning.

The line ups

The stats

KEY STATS COMPARISON
Category	Rank	Actual	Rank	Actual
Scoring Offense	26	78.4	12	79.9
Scoring Defense	282	72.8	252	71.1
Scoring Margin	75	5.7	41	8.7
Field-Goal Percentage	87	45.6	84	45.7
Field-Goal Percentage Defense	234	44.5	182	43.6
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game	130	6.6	93	7.0
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage	250	31.4	55	37.3
Three Pt FG Defense	168	34.1	84	32.7
Free-Throw Percentage	206	67.8	301	63.5
Rebound Margin	64	3.3	240	-1.5
Assists Per Game	20	16.2	289	11.1
Assist Turnover Ratio	27	1.22	267	0.8
Blocked Shots Per Game	112	3.6	39	4.7
Steals Per Game	150	6.8	9	9.5
Turnovers Per Game	111	13.2	169	14.0
Turnover Margin	66	2.0	3	5.9
Personal Fouls Per Game	226	19.2	188	18.6

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Category	Player	Rank	Actual	Player	Rank	Actual
Points PG				Devan Downey	24	20.2
FG%
3-Point FG PG
3-Point FG%
FT %
Rebounds PG	Wayne Chism	71	8.1	Mike Holmes	93	7.7
Assists PG				Devan Downey	94	4.4
Blocks PG
Steals PG				Devan Downey	4	3.1
Assist-TO Ratio	Bobby Maze	73	1.96