'I do feel like we can go out there and win': South Carolina heading into huge test against Tennessee

Before Meechie Johnson got to South Carolina, he was on an Ohio State team that peaked as the No. 4 team in the country. Before Hayden Brown arrived, he saw the likes of a Duke team that made a Final Four and an Elite Eight Florida State team. 

Those two guys–along with some other players on the Gamecocks’ roster–know what a Final-Four-caliber team looks like. The rest of the roster will experience that Saturday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena when Tennessee comes to town. 

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“Just the pace of the game and the precision of how they play. It’s an older, more experienced group. There aren’t a lot of careless turnovers or lackadaisical basketball,” Brown said. “They’re very sharp and execute very well. I think that’s going to challenge us to be on our toes for all 40 minutes, not just 35. That’s what I’m going to impress upon the younger guys a little bit more early on.”

The Vols come to Columbia with the only blemishes a November loss to Colorado then a 75-70 loss to a top-10 Arizona team. Tennessee’s won 11 of its last 12 games with wins over Butler, Southern Cal, Kansas and Maryland.

The Vols are also ranked inside the top five in every predictive metric: No. 2 in KenPom, the NET, BPI and Sagarin. 

And it will also be an insanely tough test for a South Carolina team that’s struggled at times this season. 

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“They don’t have a lot of self-inflicted wounds. You’re going to have to do some stuff. You’re going to have to create some things and have to take care of the ball. They force a lot of turnovers, a lot of it has to do with their physicality. They can pressure the ball with a variety of different guys in a variety of different ways.” Lamont Paris said. 

“They can use length to pressure the ball, they can use quickness to pressure the ball and good size on the inside. They’re a pretty complete team. You have to stick to principles and compete at a high level. If you don’t do that, you might as well not show up on that day.” 

Tennessee boasts the best defense in the country, ranking No. 1 nationally while allowing just 80.9 points per 100 possessions. The 38.1 effective field goal percentage against and 25.8 opponent turnover rate are also the best marks in the country. 

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“When you play against teams like that, physicality, possessions and togetherness and chemistry. All of that plays into trying to upset a team like that. Anybody’s beatable. It goes into hitting shots and other plays,” Johnson said. 

“As far as that, you go out there trying to be the most prepared you can. You have to be together, you have to go from one possession to the next. You might go down 8-0. How do you respond? That’s going to be the biggest thing: how together are we throughout the whole game?”

It’s an uphill battle for the Gamecocks, who are also looking for their first SEC win of the year after dropping the opener to Vanderbilt in overtime. 

If South Carolina can get it done, it would certainly be a watershed mark in the early goings of Paris’s tenure. 

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“I do feel like we can beat them, me personally. I feel like anybody is beatable, I feel like we can go out there and get them. But it’s going to have to be a detailed game. Tennessee is a great, experienced team with a lot of guys who’ve played in the tournament,” Johnson said. 

“We don’t have experienced guys like that. Right now it’s about building experience and learning after every game. With that being said, I do feel like we can go out there and win. It’s going to take a lot. It’s going to depend on how together we can be.” 

Game details

Who: Tennessee (12-2, 2-0 SEC) at South Carolina (7-7, 0-1 SEC)

When: Saturday, Jan. 7 at 3:30 p.m. 

Where: Colonial Life Arena (Capacity 18,000)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/107.5 FM

Series history: Tennessee leads 46-26 (Last game: 81-57 Vols win in 2022)

KenPom prediction: 70-52 Tennessee (Gamecocks given 5 percent chance to win)

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