South Carolina vs. LaSalle
Free Pick: South Carolina -7.5 (-110 odds)
Thu November 19th 2009 9:30p
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The South Carolina Gamecocks are already 2-0 this season and we look for them to make it a hat trick tonight vs. a La Salle Explorers team that just barely got by Hampton in their opener.

South Carolina opened the year with a 38-point win in a non-lined game vs. Alabama A&M and they followed that up by beating Georgia Southern by 24, just covering the 22-point spread. This line is much more manageable, and the Gamecocks are not really stepping up in class that much. They have smothered their first two opponents defensively, allowing only 58.0 points per game on a microscopic 34.1 percent shooting from the floor while forcing 45 turnovers.

On the offensive end, Devan Downey may compete for SEC Player of the Year honors this season, and the senior guard is already filling up the star sheet, averaging 18.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in the first two games. He has gotten some nice support from fellow senior Dominique Archie, who has hit nine of 14 from the floor so far including an incredible five of his six three-point attempts. That dup should come up big vs. a soft La Salle defense.

The Explorers were life-and-death to come away with an 83-80 win over Hampton, which does not bode well for them given this major jump in class. La Salle ranked 212 out of 335 Division I schools in defensive field goal percentage allowed last season, and after watching the Pirates shred them in the opener, how are they going to contain an upper-tier SEC school that can score?

The answer is they cannot, so we see South Carolina coming away with a double-digit win here.

CBB Free Pick: South Carolina -7.5 (-110)

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