South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech: Four things to watch for and an opponent scouting report

South Carolina let another golden opportunity to earn a signature win go down the drain. Now, the Gamecocks must try and settle for one win this week before their road trip picks back up in a few days.

After suffering a nine-point loss to Xavier, they’ll be back in action on Wednesday to face Virginia Tech in the third place game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.

Here are four things to watch for and an opponent scouting report on the Hokies.

Need to play a complete game from start to finish

Through six games, it still feels like South Carolina hasn’t played a great game of basketball from beginning to end. The team has had a few blowout wins so far. But there have been a lot of struggles at times.

Against Xavier, the Gamecocks played well in the first half after going on a nice 17-0 run and took a five-point lead into the break. Then after halftime, the wheels started to fall off and the Musketeers couldn’t be stopped.

So, in this game, South Carolina needs to find a way to play consistently for 40 minutes. Virginia Tech is far from being the same caliber opponent as Xavier or Indiana. It’s going to come down to which team shows up in this one.

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Can this team show more fire and aggression?

This question shouldn’t even need to be asked. The fact that many are seemingly questioning South Carolina’s effort says a lot about the problems it has right now. A lack of effort shouldn’t even be in the discussion.

But alas, it seems to be a problem if you’ve watched how this team has been playing. It looked like they weren’t nearly as aggressive as Xavier, especially in the paint. At times, the Gamecocks looked to be standing around and waiting for things to happen while the Musketeers crashed to the boards and grabbed rebounds. Xavier ended up with 12 second-chance points and won the rebound battle by 10 in this game.

The other part of the problem is that Collin Murray-Boyles and Nick Pringle got into some foul trouble last time out, with Murray-Boyles fouling out and Pringle picking up four fouls. When those two are on the floor, they can make a big impact. At the same time, others need to step up around them. Lamont Paris wants to see someone on his team play with more of a mean grizzled look. Let’s see if anyone brings that type of spirit on Wednesday.

Limit the mistakes

South Carolina committed 12 turnovers in the loss to Xavier on Monday. As a result, the Musketeers scored 20 points off turnovers, a key difference in that game. The point is, when this team plays sloppy basketball, opponents are going to take advantage.

The Gamecocks are averaging more than 11 turnovers per game this season. Not good. They haven’t shown they are capable of playing a clean game yet, and this is part of the problem. The fewer careless mistakes, the better.

Nick Pringle needs to be better

There are multiple issues with this South Carolina team right now. But if the team is going to get it going, Pringle needs to step it up. When he was out on the floor against Xavier, he was -25, which is really rough. He also only grabbed three rebounds when he is supposed to be counted as another enforcer in the paint.

Paris has already made it clear that Murray-Boyles cannot do it by himself. Moving forward, he’s going to need his front-court mate in Pringle to be impactful. Pringle played better in the second half with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. But that first half was about as bad it gets for him with three fouls in four minutes.

If he can stay out of early foul trouble, he can be impactful for this team. But the last thing you want from him or Murray-Boyles is to have to take a backseat due to being in foul trouble early on.

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Scouting the opponent

It’s been a rough go of it for Virginia Tech lately. After opening the new season with three consecutive wins, the Hokies have lost three straight, including an ugly 10-point loss to Jacksonville on Nov. 20.

Part of their problem is that they turn the ball over more frequently than South Carolina does, which is very telling about the type of team they are. They’re averaging 15.8 turnovers per game this season, amongst some of the worst in college basketball.

Both of these teams are about even in the rebounding department with the Gamecocks being a smidge better, averaging 37.5 boards per game. Virginia Tech isn’t far behind them with an average of 37.33 rebounds.

Murray-Boyles and Pringle are going to be tested in this game facing the Hokies front court with Toibu Lawal and Mylyjael Poteat. Lawal is averaging a team-high 13.2 points per game on 59 percent shooting. He also leads the team with seven rebounds per game. Poteat, on the other hand, is averaging 12.7 points with five rebounds and 2.2 assists.

At the starting guard spot, Jaydon Young has had a rough go of it throughout the early portion of this season. He’s shooting 29 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from behind the arc. The Hokies aren’t prone to making a ton of threes with an average of around six per game. This is where South Carolina can create some distance if it hits some deep shots at a consistent rate.

These two teams last met in Charlotte last season where the Gamecocks earned a tight 79-77 win over the Hokies.

Game details

Who: South Carolina (3-3) vs. Virginia Tech (3-3)

When: Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m.

Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena (3,500)

How to watch/listen: FS1/107.5 The Game

ESPN gives South Carolina a 68.9 percent chance to win

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