What to watch for: South Carolina heads out west to face DePaul

The cross-country flight must’ve been real joyful for South Carolina. When you’re 3-0, there’s not much to complain about.

But now the Gamecocks need to get down to business. After a sloppy win over VMI, they’ll face DePaul in Arizona on Friday.

It’s going to be a late night for Gamecock fans on the east coast with tip-off at 11:30 p.m. So get the coffee and energy drinks ready to go. Here are some things to watch for Friday night.

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How will the travel impact the team?

Anytime you’re on a long flight, it can have an impact on you with jet lag and a timezone change. But South Carolina flew in on Wednesday, giving it ample time to adjust.

With that in mind, the travel shouldn’t impact the play on the court. But you never know what can happen. The team already got a practice in before the game so they should be good to go by the time they play for real.

Facing a familiar foe

Chico Carter Jr. gave the Gamecocks a lot of good memories. Perhaps the biggest was his buzzer beater shot to beat Clemson last year. But that’s in the past now. Once South Carolina steps on the floor on Friday, he becomes an enemy.

After the end of last season, Carter transferred to DePaul. The Columbia native has played a lot of minutes so far for the Blue Demons and averaged 11.3 points per game.

It’ll be an interesting storyline heading into this one. But at the end of the day, the teams are there to play basketball and it shouldn’t have that big of an impact on the game.

Need to be more physical

One thing VMI did well against South Carolina was play with more physicality. The Keydets weren’t afraid to send the Gamecocks to the free throw line and make them work for their shots. It was a good strategy.

However, that cannot happen again. The Gamecocks need to be the team that brings the physicality. They have the players who can be the enforcers in the paint. So it’s time to show it.

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Shooting needs to get back to finding consistency

It was bound to happen at some point, but South Carolina has to shoot the ball better to have a good weekend. Luckily, a streaky night didn’t impact its win over VMI, but better teams will take advantage of the sloppy play.

The Gamecocks shot 35.2 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, the Keydets finished 42.4 percent shooting, yet lost by 10 points.

Normally when you shoot the ball as well as VMI did, you usually win the game. If it happens again, South Carolina might not win on Friday. So it’ll be critical to get off to a good start and maintain it the rest of the way.

Scouting the opponent

After losing two straight, DePaul got its first win of the year over South Dakota on Tuesday. This is a team that wasn’t good at all last year, losing 13 of their last 14 games to end the season. And it seems that could be the case again this year with a lot of losses to go around.

But this is still South Carolina and no game should be considered a slam dunk. The Blue Demons are ranked No. 162 in the KenPom College Basketball Rankings. For comparison, the Gamecocks are 100 spots ahead at No. 62.

DePaul has some good shooters alongside Carter with Jeremiah Oden and Elijah Fisher. Oden is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14 points per game. Meanwhile, Fisher is averaging 12.7 points and shooting 56 percent from the floor.

South Carolina’s big men might have their hands full with facing DePaul center Churchill Abass. Not only does he have a cool name, but he’s averaging 2.7 blocks per game so far this year. He’s blocked four shots in each of his last two games.

Game details

Who: South Carolina (3-0) vs. DePaul (1-2)

When: Friday, Nov. 17 at 11:30 p.m.

Where: Desert Diamond Arena (20,000)

How to watch/listen: CBS Sports Network/107.5 FM

ESPN gives South Carolina a 58.3 percent chance to win

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