First Scouting Report: An early look at UK’s men’s hoops game with South Carolina St.
READ MORE
Game day: Michigan State 86, No. 4 Kentucky 77 (2OT)
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Michigan State in Indianapolis.
Expand All
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 4 Kentucky (2-1) will face South Carolina State (0-3) on Thursday (Nov. 17) at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be telecast by the SEC Network.
In its most recent game, South Carolina State fell 96-71 Monday night at Duquesne. Kentucky beat the Dukes 77-52 Friday night in Rupp Arena.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with South Carolina State 1-0.
Most recent meeting
Nazr Mohammed led four Wildcats in double figures with 18 points and Allen Edwards had 13 points and tied Mohammed for the team high in rebounds with six as Tubby Smith and Kentucky launched what became a drive to the 1998 national championship with an 82-67 victory over South Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 on Friday, March 13, 1998, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Know your foe
1. South Carolina State is coached by a familiar basketball name. Erik Martin, the former Cincinnati Bearcats power forward and longtime assistant to Bob Huggins at West Virginia, is in his first season as head man of the Bulldogs.
After Tony Madlock departed for Alabama State after only one season as South Carolina State head man in April, the university did not hire Martin as his replacement until July 13. He inherited a roster with only seven players.
2. Nevertheless, Martin’s debut as South Carolina State head coach was very nearly history-making. Playing on the road, South Carolina State came within an eyelash of upsetting SEC foe South Carolina before falling 80-77 in Columbia.
Sophomore guard Lesown Hallums led the way for South Carolina State with a game-high 20 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
3. Through losses to South Carolina, Tennessee State (80-61) and Duquesne, South Carolina State has not shot the ball well at all. The Bulldogs are making only 39.5 percent of their field-goal tries, 32.8 of their three-point attempts and 54.8 percent of their free throws.
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 10:02 PM.
