South Carolina at LSU: Three things to watch for, scouting the opponent and injury report

South Carolina will look to avoid unlucky No. 13 as it travels to Baton Rouge for a late tip on Tuesday.

The Gamecocks (10-15, 0-12 SEC) will face the LSU Tigers at the PMAC (Pete Maravich Assembly Center). Tip-off is at 9 p.m. on SEC Network.

Here are three things to watch for, an opponent scouting report on the Tigers, plus the latest injury report.

Need to avoid the big run

During this 12-game losing streak, there has always been something that has served as the catalyst for the Gamecocks to falter. Going into halftime against Florida this past weekend, they only trailed by four points and looked to be in the fight. But as has been the case for most of this season, the second half was a different story.

Within eight minutes, South Carolina had fallen behind by 20 points and never recovered. The Gators had gone on a 27-9 run coming out of the break and held on to win comfortably by double digits. This is now the fifth game in SEC play where the Gamecocks have been blown out.

If they’re going to have a chance to win on Tuesday, they cannot let LSU dictate how things go after halftime. If it’s a tight game at the break, South Carolina needs to be the one to do the scoring and play good defense right out of the gate. Otherwise, it’s going to be another long night.

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This looked like South Carolina’s most winnable game until…

It very well still could be winnable. But for as bad as the Tigers have been in conference play, they are coming off a road win against Oklahoma. LSU is now 2-10 in the SEC, two games ahead of South Carolina in the bottom of the standings.

It also doesn’t help that this game will be on the road. The Gamecocks are 1-7 away from Colonial Life Arena this year, with their only win coming at Boston College back on Dec. 3. In SEC play, they’ve only had one road game go down to the wire when they lost by three against Vanderbilt. Outside of that, all the other losses have come by double digits.

According to KenPom, this will be the last win for LSU in the regular season, which would have it finishing 3-15 in the SEC. Again, South Carolina could surprise everyone and come away with a win. But it’s no small task to go win on the road in this league, regardless of opponent.

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CMB has to start taking more shots

Disclaimer: there is no problem with Collin Murray-Boyles being an unselfish basketball player and finding his teammates for open looks. But it’s a problem when he’s only taking eight shots against Florida. The sophomore forward finished with 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting and only grabbed two rebounds.

Part of that has to do with how well Florida’s bigs played against Murray-Boyles and Nick Pringle. At the same time, there are more shots out there that he just hasn’t been taking consistently. The Gamecocks are going to go as far as he takes them, and he gives you a better chance to win if he can take at least 15 shots, if not more.

Scouting the opponent

For a full look into LSU, click here to read Resume Check: Looking ahead to South Carolina basketball’s next opponent, the LSU Tigers.

Injury report

For South Carolina: Myles Stute is OUT (blood clot).

For LSU: Trey’Dez Green is OUT, Jalen Reed is OUT, Daimion Collins is PROBABLE, Corey Chest is PROBABLE, Derek Fountain is PROBABLE.

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Game details

Who: South Carolina (10-15, 0-12 SEC) at LSU (13-12, 2-10 SEC)

When: Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 9 p.m.

Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/107.5 The Game

ESPN gives South Carolina a 30.5 percent chance to win

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