Kentucky has had recent struggles with South Carolina

South Carolina joined the SEC for the 1991-1992. Since that happened, there has been a one-sided series on the hardwood with Kentucky. The Wildcats have stacked a ton of wins in this series over the years but things are beginning to change.

Kentucky owns a 54-14 series lead over South Carolina. Since the Gamecocks joined the SEC, this program is just 13-45 against Kentucky. However, three of those wins have occurred in the last six meetings.

• Jan. 16, 2018: South Carolina 76, No. 18 Kentucky 68 (Columbia)
• Feb. 5, 2019: No. 5 Kentucky 76, South Carolina 48 (Lexington)
• Jan. 15, 2020: South Carolina 81, No. 10 Kentucky 78 (Columbia)
• March 6, 2021: Kentucky 92, South Carolina 64 (Lexington)
• Feb. 8, 2022: No. 5 Kentucky 86, South Carolina 76 (Columbia)
• Jan. 10, 2023: South Carolina 71, Kentucky 68 (Lexington)

South Carolina has collected wins over UK without having good teams. The 2018 squad finished 7-16 (7-11). The 2020 squad finished 18-13 (10-8). The 2023 squad finished 11-21 (4-14). Over the last half decade, the Wildcats have consistently dropped a clunker against the Gamecocks.

This year could be different.

In year two under former Chattanooga head coach Lamont Paris, things are looking up in Columbia. South Carolina is out to a 15-3 (3-2) start. The Gamecocks played a light non-conference schedule, but this team is stacking wins. South Carolina is currently a No. 10 seed at Bracket Matrix. If that holds, that would break a six-year NCAA Tournament drought. Things are looking up for the Gamecocks on the hardwood.

On Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena, South Carolina will look to continue its strong run of success against UK to give the Gamecocks a signature win to place on that NCAA Tournament resume. Kentucky will be looking to reverse the recent trend in this series.