SOUTH CAROLINA MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Gamecocks will try to break a two game losing streak against the Georgia Bulldogs.

1. Must win?

It’s probably not a must win game, there isn’t enough at stake for the Gamecocks to call it must win. But coming off two losses, and with the Bulldogs struggling, the Gamecocks need to take care of business in Athens to avoid ruining all the moment from the 4-0 SEC start.

The Gamecocks played down to the competition against Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt. They were able to overcome the slow start against Vanderbilt, but not against Oklahoma State. It should be clear early if the Gamecocks are engaged Saturday.

2. Silva Surge

Since tallying a total of nine points and six rebounds in games against Vanderbilt and LSU and fouling out both times, In the three games since, he is playing some of the best basketball of his career. The two highest scoring games of his career (32 and 28), is a rebound shy of three straight double-doubles, and has seven blocks. He stayed out of foul trouble against Auburn and Tennessee, an was productive against Oklahoma State in spite of early foul trouble..

Silva will have another big matchup ahead of hi at Georgia, against 6-11 Nicolas Claxton. A Greenville native, Claxton i averaging 12.9 points and 9.3 rebounds.

3. Freshman wall?

Over the same three-game span, A.J. Lawson has struggled. He is averaging just 9.3 points on 30 percent shooting and his assists to turnover ratio has gone backwards at 1:2. The obvious question is if, after 20 games, he has hit the proverbial freshman wall. Lawson said that isn’t the case.

“I’ve just got to stay consistent and pick it up each game,” Lawson said. “I’ve got to try my best and read my defender better.”

4. Three-point challenge

During the month of February South Carolina is participating in the Coaches versus Cancer Three-Point Challenge. Fan can pledge a donation at http://www.pledgeit.org/cvc19-south-carolina and money will be donated for every three-pointer that South Carolina makes in February. The challenge is the follow-up to the Suits and Sneakers games that occured last week. The leaderboard to see who has raised the most money can be found at https://3pointchallenge.org/

5. Scouting the Bulldogs

Georgia and South Carolina have very similar teams, right down to identical 10-10 records. Statistically, almost every category is even, although Georgia rebounds a little better but turns the ball over a little more. The big difference is which direction the teams are trending.

Since conference play started, South Carolina has shown improvement.South Carolina of course had the 4-0 start to league play, while Georgia begane with an embarrassing 96-50 loss to Tennessee. It hasn’t gotten a lot better for Georgia,whose only win is over a struggling Vanderbilt team.

The Ws

Who: South Carolina (10-10, 5-2) at Georgia (10-10, 1-6)

When: Saturday, February 2, 1:00 pm

Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia

Watch: SEC Network