What to watch for: South Carolina heads to Tennessee

South Carolina’s gauntlet of a close to the regular season continues Saturday.

The Gamecocks, after a hard-fought overtime loss against Alabama, have to pack their backs for another top-25 game at Tennessee.

It’s a rematch of a game earlier in the year that resulted in one of the worst SEC losses in program history, so here’s what to watch in Knoxville Saturday night.

[Win a mini helmet autographed by Spencer Rattler]

Can South Carolina avoid an emotional hangover?

It was easy to see how emotionally draining the Alabama game was for Lamont Paris and the players postgame. Now there’s a quick turnaround going up to play an incredibly hungry and desperate Tennessee team.

South Carolina dumped everything into that game, a rollercoaster of an overtime game that left everyone drained. Not to mention GG Jackson and Meechie Johnson played 43 of 45 available minutes. Jacobi Wright added 37 while both Josh Gray and Hayden Brown logged at least 30.

Can the Gamecocks regroup on tired legs and play a physical Tennessee team well at its place? The other downside is because it was a Wednesday tip, the Gamecocks don’t have a day off and have to practice twice before shipping to Knoxville.

[Subscribe to Gamecock Central until Aug. 31 for only $29.99!]

How South Carolina starts will be telling in how that game might go.

What adjustments get made?

Tennessee embarrassed the Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena in early January, a 43-point home drubbing with Tennessee playing really well at the time. The Gamecocks struggled on both ends of the floor, especially in the first half. 

Now Paris and this South Carolina team get another crack at being more competitive against a top-25 team. What adjustments from that game in January get made to get South Carolina’s shooters better looks? Can the Gamecocks, who shot 15 free throws, be more aggressive and finish at the rim better? What will defensive adjustments look like against a sputtering offense?

Those will be big tells on if South Carolina can pull the upset.

[Become an NIL supporter of your South Carolina Gamecocks!]

GG Jackson vs. Julian Phillips

This was a highly publicized matchup going into the game earlier with Jackson putting up next to nothing in a then-season-low 22 minutes. He went 0-for-4, all from three, with a rebound and four turnovers. Phillips, a Columbia native, scored eight points but did it on 3-for-4 shooting with a rebound and an assist. 

Jackson has put together two good energy games consecutively. This is a physical team–with or without Phillips–that Jackson’s going against. Can he continue that positive energy and have a better game against the Vols? South Carolina will need it. 

Backcourt, backcourt, backcourt

Confidence is noticeable for the Gamecocks’ backcourt duo of Meechie Johnson and Jacobi Wright. The two have been efficient and hitting threes at a very high clip of late. Because of it, the Gamecocks’ offense has gotten better. 

[Subscribe for free to Gamecock Central’s YouTube page!]

The Vols are a guard-led team, headlined by Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Ziegler, and will present challenges for Johnson and Wright on both ends. 

South Carolina’s guards will have to find ways to attack against a good Tennessee defense while preventing those two from creating while the Gamecocks are on defense.

Scouting the opponent

The Vols, at their apex, can beat any team in the country. Tennessee has impressive wins against Southern Cal, Kansas, Maryland, Texas and most recently Alabama.

But it’s a team not immune to struggles, and Tennessee is in the midst of a rough patch right now. The Vols have lost four of five games–three on the road–and are 2-5 in their last seven with losses to Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Texas A&M. 

It’s still the top-ranked defense in the country, one that put South Carolina in knots early in the season. The Vols are a great offensive rebounding team, best in the country, rebounding 37.3 percent of misses. 

In league games the Vols rank in the top three in most defensive categories, second in defensive efficiency and opponent effective field goal percentage. The defense does have a tendency to send opponents to the free throw line. 

[Get South Carolina basketball news and analysis via email]

The offense is the thing that tends to bog down with Tennessee No. 8 in offensive efficiency, ninth-best in turnover rate and last in offensive free throw rate. Tennessee is assisting on 63.3 percent of makes, the best in the league. 

Santiago Vescovi leads the team in SEC play averaging 13.1 points on 43.6 percent shooting and 39.4 percent from three. Zakai Zeigler (10.5 points) is the only other double-figure scorer. He’s also averaging a whopping 6.6 assists to 2.3 turnovers per game. 

Josiah Jordan James has been banged up and no other player is averaging more than nine points. Jonas Aidoo is averaging 5.5 rebounds. James (5.3) is the only other player averaging more than five but three players in SEC play are averaging at least four rebounds per game.

Game details

Who: South Carolina (10-18, 3-12 SEC) at Tennessee (20-8, 9-6 SEC)

When: Saturday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.

Where: Thompson Boling Arena (Capacity: 21,678)

All-time series: Tennessee leads 47-26 (last matchup: Tennessee won 85-42 in 2023)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/107.5 FM

KenPom prediction: 74-53 Tennessee (Gamecocks given a 3 percent chance to win)

Discuss South Carolina basketball on The Insiders Forum!