How to watch/what to watch for: Stakes still high for South Carolina entering regular season finale

Despite losing a heartbreaker earlier in the week, South Carolina still has plenty to play for as the regular season nears its end.

The No. 17 Gamecocks will head to Starkville to play Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. More than anything, they need to find a way to win. But there are other things they can still accomplish.

Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Here are some things to watch for.

What’s at stake?

While South Carolina came up short of winning the SEC regular season title, it still has a shot to be a top-four seed in the conference tournament next week. Not only do the Gamecocks need to win on Saturday, but Kentucky needs to lose. And that’s very possible. The Wildcats travel to Knoxville, where the Volunteers have only lost at home once this year.

Beyond that, there are other headache scenarios out there for the Gamecocks to get in. But this is the simplest one. It’s unfortunate they went from battling for first place to dropping to fifth, but that’s just how the cookie can crumble sometimes.

If South Carolina gets the top-four seed, that means it doesn’t have to play until next Friday and earns a double-bye. This makes the path to an SEC championship much more doable.

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Get off to a good start

One of the main reasons Tennessee came away with the win on Wednesday was because of how South Carolina played in the first half. By halftime, the Gamecocks only had 24 points on 32.3 percent shooting.

The big issue was that they were just 4-for-17 from three-point range. Combine that with not playing great defense in transition and the Volunteers were pouncing.

As it turned out, South Carolina ended up playing a lot better in the second half and got within three points of tying the game entering the final minute. Obviously, Tennessee managed to hold off the comeback. But it just showed this Gamecock team is more than capable of playing good against the best.

To win on Saturday, they must get off to a better start. Play like you did in the second half and leave no doubt.

Lots of X factors

This is almost a full-circle type of moment. South Carolina started SEC play against Mississippi State and these two squads will wrap up SEC play against one another. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

While the Gamecocks only won the first meeting by six points, they almost feel like a completely different team at this point. For one, Collin Murray-Boyles only played 17 minutes in that game as he was still working his way back from mono. Imagine how impactful he can be in a game where so much is on the line.

BJ Mack and Ta’Lon Cooper both didn’t play great in that first game and went a combined 2-for-15 from the field. Expect them to play a lot better in their final regular season game as college athletes. They want to wrap this slate on a high note and head into Nashville playing well. They can be big on Saturday.

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Put Tennessee loss on the back burner

Losing to Tennessee was easily the most devastating loss of this entire season. South Carolina had so much to play for and came up just short. You could see the hurt in the eyes of the players and coaches after the game.

But now, it’s time to move forward. Can’t go back and change the past. The Gamecocks need to move on quickly from that loss and can do so by going into a tough road environment and coming out with a win. It’s hard to understate how important this game is for both sides. But it feels like South Carolina may need this one more for moral/confidence sake.

Scouting the opponent

A lot will be riding on this game for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs come into Saturday with a 19-11 record, needing a win over a good ranked team to help its NCAA Tournament chances.

However, the Bulldogs have been stumbling lately, losing their last three games, two of which were on the road. But they can erase those bad games with one good one against South Carolina.

Mississippi State is led by Josh Hubbard and Tolu Smith, who are both averaging 16.4 points per game this year. Hubbard, a freshman guard, played fairly well against the Gamecocks back on Jan. 6. He finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 23 minutes.

Meanwhile, Smith was just working his way back into the rotation after an injury kept him out for all but one game in non-conference play. In just 20 minutes, he had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and went 5-for-5 at the free throw line against South Carolina.

Fully expect Smith to be much more impactful this time around. But the good news is that he’ll have to go up against Murray-Boyles, which should be the matchup of the afternoon in the paint.

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Game details

Who: No. 17 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC) at Mississippi State (19-11, 8-9 SEC)

When: Saturday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Humphrey Coliseum (9,100)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/107.5 FM

ESPN gives South Carolina a 26.4 percent chance to win

Odds for South Carolina at Mississippi State

South Carolina is a 3.5-point underdog heading into this matchup. Mississippi State is the favorite with the money line at -182, according to FanDuel. For the Gamecocks, the money line is set at +150. The total for this matchup is set at 133.5 if you want to bet the over/under.

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