South Carolina @ Temple preview

South Carolina is ready to return to Madison Square Garden in New York City, where it enjoyed some wonderful memories last spring, for a date with Temple on Thursday. This game is part of the Under Armour Reunion event with Seton Hall and Texas Tech meeting in the earlier contest.

The Gamecocks were a No. 7 seed in the East Region in last season's NCAA Tournament and reached the Final Four, winning their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at Madison Square Garden. This time around, South Carolina will be without many of the key players from that squad, but fortunately Chris Silva is among those still in school. The junior forward shot 10-of-13 for a career-high 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in South Carolina's third straight win, a 78-61 triumph over Florida International on Monday. Temple, meanwhile, won its first three games before falling against Philadelphia rival La Salle its last time out.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (5-1): The Gamecocks are giving up 60.7 points per game and have not allowed more than 69 points in any contest. They limited Florida International to 4-of-17 3-point shooting and outrebounded the Golden Panthers, 40-25, while forcing 17 turnovers. Silva leads the team with 14 points per game and eight boards per outing, while Frank Booker averages 11 points and has drained 17 3-pointers - nearly twice as many as anyone else on the team.

ABOUT TEMPLE (3-1): In Sunday's loss to La Salle, Temple was led by Quinton Rose (21 points), Shizz Alston Jr. (18) and Obi Enechionyia (16). The high-scoring trio is averaging a combined 51.3 points with only one other player on the squad averaging above 6.3 points. That would be point guard Josh Brown, who contributes 9.3 points and a team-high 4.0 assists, and is 5-of-8 from 3-point range on the young season.

TIP-INS

1. Silva is the only one of South Carolina's top six scorers who shoots better than 67 percent from the foul line.

2. Alston and Enechionyia are a combined 30-of-31 from the free-throw line this season.

3. Alston, who averaged 1.7 steals last season, has yet to record a steal in 134 minutes.

PREDICTION: South Carolina 69, Temple 59