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

Maybe this is what South Carolina needs. It’s been a slower start to the season for the Gamecocks, so maybe the cure to getting things going will be a good quality road trip.

Starting this week, the team will be on the road for their next three games and won’t return to Colonial Life Arena until Dec. 7. It all begins on Monday when South Carolina faces Xavier Musketeers in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. The Gamecocks are guaranteed to play a second game in Fort Myers on Wednesday against either Michigan or Virginia Tech.

Here are four things to watch for as well as a scouting report on Xavier.

The Sean Miller game

Let’s just address the elephant in the room. This is an interesting storyline of sorts.

After South Carolina fired Frank Martin in 2022, Sean Miller was one of the candidates for the program’s open head coaching job. But as the story goes, Miller decided to return to Xavier, where he previously helped the Musketeers make four straight NCAA Tournament appearances in the mid 2000s.

Ultimately, Lamont Paris became the Gamecocks’ new coach, where he still remains to this day now in his third season in Columbia. Miller, meanwhile, is also in his third year back with Xavier, where he took the program to a Sweet 16 in year one and went 16-18 last year.

This isn’t about rehashing the past. But it’s relevant in that Miller, who was once believed to be on track to be South Carolina’s next coach, will now face the Gamecocks for the first time since that whole saga went down.

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Long road trip ahead

For the next few days, the Gamecocks will be hanging out in the warmer weather in the Sunshine State. It’s a nice change of pace from the colder weather that’s been here in the Columbia area. They’ll then have a few days off with Thanksgiving on Thursday before traveling up north to play Boston College next Tuesday.

As previously mentioned, this might be what South Carolina needs. The team played better in its most recent win over Mercer, albeit in front of a very small home crowd. So it might be a good thing to get away from home for a little while and play at a neutral site for the next two games.

The Gamecocks were in a similar spot last season when they went out west to play in the Arizona Tip-Off. At the time, they went into that week with a 2-0 start but still had plenty of unknowns about how the season would go. As it turned out, that road trip went about as well as it could have with wins over DePaul and Grand Canyon to win the tournament championship. And of course, they went on to win 26 games and make it to the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not to say the same will happen this season as South Carolina enters another early season tournament. But the point is that this could be a good chance for the team to turn it up a notch. If they can string together a few wins before returning home next weekend, the vibes will be a lot better.

Can the offense run through CMB?

Maybe this is something we will see develop over time. But it’s an interesting question. When Collin Murray-Boyles is at his best, he’s very hard to stop. And he’s only going to become more dangerous as his three-point shot and court vision continue to come along.

Against Mercer, the sophomore forward did a little bit of everything to help the team win. He finished with 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. He also went 2-for-2 from three-point range and made a gorgeous crosscourt pass to Zachary Davis for a wide-open three-pointer.

When Murray-Boyles is able to put it all together consistently, he’s going to be unguardable. And if South Carolina can develop him into the guy that the offense runs through, it could pose a real threat for the rest of the SEC. How many teams can say they have a big man running the show? Probably not many.

Need the shooters to keep shooting

If South Carolina is going to get going and score some big wins, it needs its shooters to get into a rhythm. Last Thursday was a good starting point for some players who had been struggling. Now it’s just about whether they can keep it going or not.

Specifically, Jamarii Thomas had 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting with four threes and Davis had 18 on 7-of-12 shooting. Those two in particular need to be able to sustain success. Both are already great defenders, so if they can find some offensive consistency, that’s going to greatly benefit the Gamecocks.

Going off that, the way the team shot the ball in the second half needs to be how they come out from the jump against Xavier. South Carolina started off going 5-for-5 from three-point range before finishing the half at 7-of-13. Score early and often and hope the defense will come along and grow.

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Scouting the opponent

Xavier is off to a 5-0 start this season with its best win coming over Wake Forest on Nov. 16. And that seems to be a decent win right now since the Demon Deacons had already beaten Michigan, who one of these two teams will face on Wednesday. Other than that, the Musketeers haven’t played any noteworthy teams.

This will be Xavier’s first semi-road trip of the season since the team played its first five games at home. Granted, it’s going to be a neutral site matchup. But it wasn’t particularly good away from its home court last year, going 4-11 in away/neutral site games. And for a South Carolina team which already went on the road to Indiana this year, maybe this benefits the Gamecocks a little more to get Xavier at a new location.

The good news for the Gamecocks is that this isn’t a team that shoots 30-plus three-pointers per game, like Mercer and North Florida did against them. Xavier only averages about 24 three-point attempts per game. However, the Musketeers have been able to cash in on their opportunities, averaging 10.6 makes from the behind the arc per game.

If the Gamecock defense can’t defend on the perimeter and outside, it could be a long night if Xavier is shooting well. The team is led by junior guard Ryan Conwell, who leads them in scoring with 18.2 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting. He’s also shooting better than 52 percent from three.

Right behind him in scoring is 6-foot-9 forward Zach Freemantle, who has put up 15.6 points per game. He’s been doing it on 52.9 percent shooting from the field, but he’s also been solid from deep with an even 50 percent three-point shooting percentage. He also leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Freemantle will surely be a real threat to South Carolina’s front court in this game.

Game details

Who: South Carolina (3-2) vs. Xavier (5-0)

When: Monday, Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m.

Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena (3,500)

How to watch/listen: FS1/107.5 The Game

ESPN gives South Carolina a 43.8 percent chance to win

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