Friday, March 17, 2017 | 12:06 p.m.
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We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.
Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.
South Carolina pick’em vs. Marquette: $550 to win $500
Marquette is the more attractive team in this matchup. But anyone who follows college basketball knows that the more exciting team doesn’t always win.
More often than not, the dirtier team wins. Grinding away wins. Defense wins.
And almost no team in the country plays defense as well as South Carolina. The Gamecocks are third in the nation in defensive efficiency by kenpom.com.
They’re particularly good defending the three-point line, as opponents have shot less than 30 percent on the year from long range. Marquette throws up a lot of 3s, and they usually fall.
Tonight at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. — location is another South Carolina advantage — they probably won’t. And it’s not like South Carolina is destitute on the offensive end.
Sindarius Thornwell can be one of the most exciting players in the nation and won the SEC Player of the Year award. The senior swingman has waited his whole career for this opportunity.
He’s not going to waste it. South Carolina will follow Thornwell’s lead, slow down the game and defeat Marquette.
Current Standings: Grimala (5-8, $9,000), Granger (12-14-1, $7,950), Keefer (38-34-2, $7,881), Brewer (25-26-1, $6,885)
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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