How to watch/what to watch for: South Carolina heads to Athens to face Georgia

After a thrilling upset win over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday, South Carolina will have to refocus with another road matchup on deck. The Gamecocks will be in Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

Here are some things to watch for.

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Can the Gamecocks keep it up?

At this point, it’s proven that South Carolina is legit. This is no accident that the team is 18-3 going into February. The question now becomes, can the Gamecocks keep winning and avoid an upset?

South Carolina faced Georgia in Columbia a few weeks back and lost a game it should have probably won. So getting over that hump will be on the minds for the team heading into this one. But you never know what can happen on any given day. This is college basketball after all.

Free throw shooting

There are a lot of reasons why South Carolina lost that game against Georgia earlier in the season. But the main takeaway was how it did shooting free throws. With 32 attempts, it shot just 53.1 percent at the line. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had the same number of free throw chances and made 78.1 percent of them. With the game being decided by five points, it’s fair to say that’s why South Carolina lost.

To be fair, the Gamecocks have been better at the line lately. But to win on Saturday, they need to be better than 53.1 percent shooting on freebies.

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Can Zachary Davis figure it out?

Something that hasn’t been talked about much is how much Davis struggled in the win over the Vols earlier this week. He went 0-for-5 from the field and had three turnovers.

It’s easy to overlook his stat line when the team found a way to hang on and win. But he really didn’t play well at all. He’s continuing to provide a spark on the defensive end. It’s just the silly mistakes he makes that can be costly.

Finish the week off strong

Should South Carolina be ranked after beating Tennessee? Yes. However, a loss to Georgia would throw a wrench in what happens in the next AP poll. Sure, the Gamecocks could still wind up being ranked regardless of whether they win or lose on Saturday. But it’s easier to not leave anything up in the air.

Take care of business and there will be no debate about it. South Carolina will undoubtedly be ranked without any conviction with another road win on Saturday. At the same time, rankings don’t matter all too much right now. What matters is continuing to play good ball and finding a way into the big dance at the end of the year.

Scouting the opponent

Since beating South Carolina, the Bulldogs are 1-3 over their last four games. They gave up 105 points to Kentucky, a team that the Gamecocks manhandled. They beat LSU but have dropped two straight against Florida and Alabama. And it’s safe to say Georgia could’ve won those last two games.

Regardless, Georgia is now 14-7 (4-4 SEC) on the year with a lot of work to do. The Bulldogs rank No. 71 in KenPom and saw their best win come against Wake Forest back on Nov. 10.

The team’s leading scorer is senior guard Sabri Abdur-Rahim, who is averaging 13.1 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting. 

Since scoring 34 points against Kentucky, he hasn’t touched double digits. In his last three games, he’s scored a combined 24 points on 6-of-24 shooting.

Then there’s Noah Thomasson, who is averaging 12 points per game. He’s been a little more consistent with a lot of games where he’s scored double digits. But he hasn’t been a huge threat to have a breakout game yet.

In short, if South Carolina can control the tempo and play its typical game, it should take care of business on Saturday.

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Game details

Who: South Carolina (18-3, 6-2 SEC) at Georgia (14-7, 4-4 SEC)

When: Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m.

Where: Stegman Coliseum (10,523)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/107.5 FM

ESPN gives South Carolina a 41.1 percent chance to win

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