Resume Check: Looking ahead to South Carolina basketball's next opponent, the Georgia Bulldogs

South Carolina basketball is six games into its 2024-2025 SEC schedule. The Gamecocks are 10-10 and 0-7 in conference play following an overtime defeat at the hands of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Carolina is 0-7 in SEC play for the first time in program history.

The season is getting away from the Gamecocks, but there is still much to play for moving forward. As is life in the SEC, though, Carolina will have to face another quality opponent as they must travel to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs.

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Resume Check: Georgia Bulldogs

Record: 14-6 (2-5 in SEC)
AP Ranking: Unranked; ranked 23rd two weeks ago
Last Week: Loss to Arkansas 65-68 in Fayetteville; Loss to Florida 59-89 in Gainesville
Previous Meeting: South Carolina won 72-62 in Athens during 2023-2024 season

Georgia has lost four games in a row since cracking the AP top 25 poll for the first time since the 2010-2011 season. Mike White’s squad is talented and earned a win over top-10 Kentucky earlier this month and are desperate to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. With South Carolina on a seven-game losing streak of their own, something will have to give on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs went 12-1 during their non-conference schedule. The 12 wins included quality victories over Grand Canyon, St. John’s, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech. Georgia’s five conference losses were to four top-16 teams (Ole Miss, Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida) and the talented Arkansas Razorbacks.

Heading into Tuesday night’s contest, Georgia ranks 12th in the SEC in scoring offense (76.3 points per game). The defense has been a little better in Athens as the Bulldogs have surrendered 66.5 points per contest, a number good for 7th in the league. UGA plays at a slower pace, though, meaning they are a little better than those raw numbers might indicate. They are eighth in the SEC in field goal percentage and fifth in field goal percentage allowed. The Bulldogs do a very good job of defending the arc, surrendering just a 28.5% 3-point efficiency.

When Georgia wins, the foul line often is a factor. The Bulldogs rank fourth in the SEC in free throw attempts this season. However, they surrender the fourth-fewest trips to the charity stripe. South Carolina holds similar intra-conference rankings (4th in attempts, 2nd-fewest attempts allowed). The team that wins that battle will be at a supreme advantage in Athens this week.

No team in the conference gives the ball away more than the Georgia Bulldogs. In fact, averaging 13.8 turnovers per game, Georgia is tied for 308th nationally in the dubious statistic. Those numbers have been worse of late as the Bulldogs are averaging over 15 turnovers per game during their four-game losing streak.

Freshman big man Asa Newell is the team’s best overall player. He leads the ‘Dawgs in scoring and is one of 17 players in the SEC to average over 15 points per game. He also pulls down 6.9 rebounds and averages about one block and one steal each night, too. Silas Demery is the class Georgia “big guard” who can get downhill. Bench guard Dakota Leffew (a USC transfer portal target this offseason) joins Newell and Demery as double-digit scorers. Leffew and starting wing Blue Cain are bombers from 3-point range, though, Cain has struggled a bit this season.

Defensively, freshman center Somto Cyril is a big-time deterrent at the rim. Though he comes off the bench, Cyril is second in the conference in blocked shots. Amazingly, he only plays 15 minutes per game. He’s also second on the UGA squad in rebounding. Former Clemson Tiger (and son of Georgia football legend Randall Godfrey) RJ Godfrey is a solid body in the post, as well.

Coming into the contest against the Gamecocks, Georgia is a very healthy team. Before the team’s last game against Florida, Coach White didn’t include a single player on the SEC-mandated availability report.

The Gamecocks and Bulldogs will tip off at 7:00 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday, January 28th. SEC Network will broadcast the game, and the ESPN app will stream it.

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