South Carolina vs. Mississippi State: Three things to watch for, scouting the opponent and injury report

South Carolina is coming off another heartbreaking loss, a 70-69 defeat to No. 5 Florida on Wednesday. Just like the other close, gut-wrenching losses it has endured this season, it will have another chance to get right.

The Gamecocks (10-9, 0-6 SEC) are still in search of their first SEC win this season as they take on No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

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

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Get ready for more aggression

If there’s one thing South Carolina should’ve taken away from the first time it played Mississippi State earlier this month, the Bulldogs are going to bring the pressure defensively. That’s exactly what they did when they came right at Collin Murray-Boyles and held him to five points and six turnovers in 30 minutes.

Because of how effective Mississippi State’s defense was keeping Murray-Boyles at bay, it impacted the rest of the Gamecock offense. South Carolina turned the ball over 14 times and shot 29.1 percent from the field in a 35-point loss. It’s hard to forget just how rough that game was, especially in the first half where the team only scored 18 points.

It’s going to be similar to what the Gamecocks saw from Florida in the second half on Wednesday. When the Gators started to run the full-court press, it severely limited what the offense was able to do and made them ineffective. If Mississippi State has its way again on Saturday, it could be another long afternoon.

Finish, finish, finish

If this game gets to a point where it’s close and the Gamecocks have a shot to win, they have to break the door down and finish. They’ve come close to doing so not once, not twice, but three times in SEC play so far. There’s a solid argument to be made for them being 3-3 in the conference. But alas, shooting themselves in the foot at the tail end of games has been the driving force for these close losses.

In a 66-63 loss to No. 1 Auburn, South Carolina didn’t score in the final five minutes and missed timely free throws. Against Vanderbilt, another 66-63 loss, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 25 times and whiffed on an opportunity to win at the end. Then against Florida, they led by 13 points with 8:45 to go and proceeded to frequently turnover the ball and miss more free throws in crunch time. Put all that together and you have the makings of some rough finishes.

The silver lining for them is that they are getting close. They aren’t all the way there yet, otherwise they wouldn’t be in an 0-6 hole right now. But at some point, they’ve got to find a way to shut teams down and not give them a chance to crawl back in. Once they do that, these losses could start to turn into wins.

[Win tickets: South Carolina-Auburn WBB]

On the verge of some history

If South Carolina loses a seventh straight game on Saturday, it will officially mark its worst start to conference play in program history.

The Gamecocks last started out 0-6 in the SEC during the 2013-14 season before demolishing Texas A&M, 80-52. That team ended up going 14-20 on the year with a 5-13 SEC record. It was also just three years before they went on their magical Final Four run in 2017.

It’s never good to be on the wrong side of history like South Carolina could be this weekend. But the team has had their chances to snap this losing streak and failed to do so. The road only gets tougher with four of the next five games after this one coming against AP Top 25 opponents. So, if things don’t improve soon, this skid could become much worse than it already is.

Scouting the opponent

Mississippi State still remains a solid team in the few weeks that have passed since South Carolina made the trip to Starkville. However, the Bulldogs have looked a little more vulnerable since their last meeting earlier this month.

Chris Jans’ squad has lost three of their last four games, with their most recent win coming in an 84-81 overtime win against No. 16 Ole Miss. Mississippi State’s losses during this stretch have come against Kentucky and Auburn, two top 10 teams, and No. 6 Tennessee in Knoxville on Tuesday.

For as good as the Bulldogs can be on offense, averaging 81.5 points per game, they’ve been kept in check in these recent losses. Auburn held them to 66 points on 34.9 percent shooting, while Tennessee did one better and allowed 56 points on 33.9 percent shooting.

Given that this game is in Columbia and South Carolina’s defense has allowed 68.9 points per game, there’s always a chance this trend of containing Mississippi State could continue. But that will be easier said than done.

Mississippi State lit it up in that Jan. 4 matchup, scoring 85 points on 56.5 percent shooting. Four players are currently averaging double-digit points: Josh Hubbard (16.5), Claudell Harris Jr. (10.7), Riley Kugel (10.3) and KeShawn Murphy (10.3).

Defensively, the Bulldogs allow more than 70 points per game, which ranks 13th in the SEC. They also seem to get into some foul trouble, giving up the third-most free throw attempts in the conference. This should bode well for the Gamecocks as a team who gets to the line. Then again, they have to cash in on their opportunities, something they struggle to do at times.

[Win tickets: South Carolina-Texas A&M MBB]

Injury report

For South Carolina, Jamarii Thomas is PROBABLE (knee sprain), Myles Stute is OUT (blood clot), and Collin Murray-Boyles is QUESTIONABLE (unknown).

For Mississippi State, Kanye Clary is OUT (lower-leg injury).

Game details

Who: South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC) vs. No. 14 Mississippi State (15-4, 3-3 SEC)

When: Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m.

Where: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)

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

ESPN gives South Carolina a 34.2 percent chance to win

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