South Carolina will attempt to remain perfect at home this season when it welcomes Southeastern Conference rival Georgia to Columbia, S.C., Tuesday night.
The Gamecocks (14-2, 2-1 SEC) rebounded from a dismal 47-point performance in a lopsided loss to Alabama last Tuesday with a 71-69 overtime victory at Missouri on Saturday. Both of those contests were on the road.
“We covet any win, certainly,” Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris said. “But the road wins are something altogether.”
B.J. Mack scored 21 points versus the Tigers and Jacobi Wright capped his 11-point performance by sinking a go-ahead fadeaway jumper with 13 seconds remaining in overtime.
Last week’s SEC Co-Player of the Week Meechie Johnson, who averages a team-best 17.1 points per game, was limited to just five points on 2-of-6 shooting from the floor against Missouri. He scored 18 points and Wright added 14 in South Carolina’s 61-55 win over Georgia in Columbia on March 4 of last season.
The Gamecocks boast the SEC’s stingiest defense, allowing just 64.1 points per game. That tenacity has helped cover some glaring issues on offense; their 72.9 points per game rank second-to-last in the conference.
The Bulldogs (12-4, 2-1) saw their stellar 10-game winning streak come to a halt Saturday with an 85-79 setback to then-No. 5 Tennessee.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored 21 points and Silas Demary added 13 for Georgia, which squandered an 11-point lead with 6:24 remaining in the second half. The Bulldogs made just 1 of 12 shots from the floor down the stretch.
“We wish we could have finished the 40,” Georgia coach Mike White said, “because we played a pretty good 35. A really good 35, the best we’ve played.”
Demary underscored the team’s mindset.
“We don’t want to dwell on it saying, ‘Dang, we should have won,'” he said, per the Athens Banner-Herald. “We just want to work on it and fix everything we could have done to win the game.”
Abdur-Rahim averages a team-best 12.9 points per game for Georgia, while Noah Thomasson contributes 12.8.
