Early Wednesday evening Kentucky takes the court in Columbia, S.C., eyeing a 4-0 record in the SEC.

Standing between the Wildcats and that mark is South Carolina, coached by Frank Martin.

Here Cats Illustrated writers offer their takes on the game and predictions on how it might play out.

Justin Rowland: Kentucky is 3-0 and has played well for the most part over the last couple of weeks. But we saw some things against Alabama, aside from the shooting, that were a little concerning. In several facets of the game the Tide had their way. All that's to say that while I can't and won't pick Kentucky to lose this game, they aren't at the point where they can go on cruise control on the road in the SEC. This is a Gamecock team that beat Virginia -- granted, not the Cavaliers of last year by any stretch of the imagination -- but for the most part they have struggled. I'll pick Kentucky to shoot a bit worse than the last couple of games but to grind out the kind of win you typically have to grind out against a Frank Martin team. Kentucky 66, South Carolina 59.

David Sisk: You know what you’re getting with South Carolina. But I think playing teams like Louisville, Missouri, and Georgia who play a physical half-court game will have them prepared. I think the magic number Kentucky would like to get to is 65 points. South Carolina just isn’t able to play keep up the higher the score goes. Kentucky 71 South Carolina 62.

Travis Graf: South Carolina is a physical basketball team, which is the status quo for a typical Frank Martin-coached squad. I expect a fight, but Kentucky to win by double-digits. The ‘Cats should own the glass and this game will say a lot about the continued growth of this team. Calipari gets his guys to dig in and grind out a win in their first game back as a top-10 team. Kentucky 65, South Carolina 52.

Jeff Drummond: South Carolina has occasionally been a really tricky place for the Cats to play during the Calipari era. It will likely be one of those “Everybody’s Super Bowl” atmospheres Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks aren’t very talented this year, but you can take it to the bank that they’ll play physical and bring a lot of that Frank Martin toughness to the court. This could be something of a grinder game for UK, especially if a key guy like Ashton Hagans or Nick Richards gets in foul trouble and winds up sitting for long stretches. Immanuel Quickley is probably “due” to cool off a bit. There were some red flags for me Tuesday while interviewing the Cats at the Craft Center. UK is typically at its best when it feels threatened. I didn’t get that sense before this game. I think the Cats will have enough to get the W but perhaps by a much closer margin than anyone expects -- Kentucky 61, South Carolina 53.