South Carolina hosts LSU Thursday night in the season’s penultimate home game.

1. Stat Watch and ticket update

We’ve reached the point in the season where there are a whole bunch of milestones in play. They include but are not limited to:

- South Carolina's 25-1 record ties the best start in program history. The 2015-16 team started 22-0, lost to Connecticut, and finished the regular season 28-1 and 16-0 in the SEC. That team finished 33-2 with a loss to Syracuse in the Sweet Sixteen.

- South Carolina has won at least 25 games eight times in the last nine seasons. Only last year’s 23-10 team missed the mark.

- Aliyah Boston has had 11 double-doubles this season, passing Alaina Coates for South Carolina's freshman record.

- Tyasha Harris needs three more steals to enter South Carolina's career top ten. She is averaging 1.5 steals per game.

- Mikiah Herbert Harrigan is third in career blocks, 15 behind Coates for second place. She is averaging 1.7 blocks per game.

- Boston is also three blocks away from tying Alaina Coates’ freshman record of 73. That doesn’t include Boston’s best block of the season, which came in practice:

We’ve also reached the point, or are passed the point, where fans are making postseason plans. Due to the high demand this season, many fans did not receive SEC Tournament tickets that they requested through the university. In a nutshell, the bad news is that only 540 tickets were available, so a lot of people were left out. The good news is that there are plenty of tickets still available. Look here for more information. (For planning purposes only, the top seed plays at noon, and seed two and three play in the evening session.)

2. Depth

In the win over Vanderbilt, South Carolina's bench logged more minutes and scored more points than the starters. That was an anomaly, obviously, but it is also a reminder of how much depth this team has. After the game, Staley made clear that she would never run up the score, but the opportunity to give the second unit the fourth quarter to play at real game speed was important.

“This is an opportunity for them to play expanded minutes, minutes where they can work on things that they don’t get to in some of the games,” Staley said Monday. “For some players, they need to play at a pace that we have to play at no matter what the score or what the time is left on the clock. They played fluid basketball and that’s what we need.”

The result was five Gamecocks in double figures scoring, including reserves LeLe Grissett and Destanni Henderson, the fourteenth time this season. That balance and depth may end up costing the Gamecocks some individual awards when the season ends, since the statistics aren’t as impressive as they are for other players. But the results can’t be argued with. The Gamecocks apply relentless pressure on opponents on both ends of the court and few can keep up.

South Carolina has scored 90 or more points five times in SEC games, the most since the 2000-01 Tennessee team. South Carolina has two different SEC wins by 50 or more points, the sort of scores you expect in November guarantee games. The average margin of victory is over 27 points, and the breakdown is staggering: 10 of the 12 games have been by double digits, nine by at least 20, and five by at least 30.

Vanderbilt’s Stephanie White was the latest coach to watch her team get run over. She marveled at South Carolina’s collection of talent.

“This quite possibly, as scary as it sounds, could be one of the best teams she’s had,” White said. “One of the most balanced teams inside and out, certainly an incredibly aggressive and solid defensive team, and getting the balance not just inside and out but multiple players all the time. The maturity of the young players and the leadership of Ty Harris is evident. This is a national championship potential winning team.”

3. Point guard love

Although she is only in her third season at Vanderbilt, White has a long and varied background. Before taking over at Vanderbilt, White coached in the WNBA. She was the head coach of the Indiana Fever for two seasons, where she coached former Gamecock Tiffany Mitchell. As a player, White won the Wade Trophy as the nation’s best player and led Purdue to the NCAA championship in 1999. Upon graduation, she was drafted by the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting, who were led by a point guard named Dawn Staley. She sees her former teammate in Harris.

“The leadership of Ty Harris, the peer leadership, is huge,” White said. “I played with Dawn. Dawn’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. And Ty Harris is an extension of Dawn. every year she’s taken more ownership of that leadership role.”

Harris was named to the Wade Award midseason watch list on Wednesday, meaning she is on the watch list for all four player of the year awards. She leads the SEC and is ninth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, and is on a current stretch of three games without a turnover. During this streak, Harris has played 81 minutes, scored 43 points, and had 21 assists.

It seems the only people who don’t love Harris right now are the Gamecock bigs, who claim Harris and the guards steal all their rebounds.

“They get mad at us,” Harris said. “They say they box out and we just run and get it.”

4. Dog Days

There are several game promotions Thursday of varying degrees of cuteness. It is the Gamecocks annual Play 4 Kay game to raise awareness for breast cancer research in honor of former NC State coach Kay Yow. The Gamecocks traditionally wear pink uniforms for the occasion.

And since it is National Love Your Pet Day, there are also a series of dog-themed promotions for Pet Appreciation Day. The first 500 fans will receive a collapsible water bowl. The bowls are intended for dogs, but you could use one to wash down the $1 hot dogs if you really want to. In the coup de grace, at halftime the Flying Houndz Frizbee Trick Dog Show will perform. If you still need a reason to attend, last year during the the pet appreciation game, Champ Staley was a guest ruff-eree for one of the in game promotions.

If the chance to see Champ doesn’t pique your interest, South Carolina is also doing a second Pet Appreciation Day on Saturday, when men’s basketball hosts LSU (not that back-to-back home games against the same opponent with the same promotions gets confusing).

5. Scouting the Tigers

LSU has been on the fringe of the top 25 for most of the season, and received six votes in this week’s poll. The Tigers have defeated Texas A&M twice, Kentucky, and Tennessee, but the promising season took an unfortunate hit earlier this month when senior Ayana Mitchell suffered a season-ending knee injury. Mitchell was averaging 13.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game at the time of her injury, and while she wasn’t flashy, she was probably headed for an all-SEC season. 6-5 Faustine Aifuwa has had to step up in Mitchell’s absence, and she has delivered. She is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds over the last four game

The Lady Tigers play at a very deliberate pace, averaging only 66.0 points per game. They have attempted and made the second-fewest threes in the SEC, and are shooting the third-worst percentage.The Lady Tigers win with defense (allowing 58.5 points on 39 percent shooting) and patience. They play a lot of zone, and although they mix in man, the Gamecocks will probably see a lot of zone to try to limit Boston and keep the Gamecock guards out of the lane.

“They’ve got great guard play,” Staley said. “They’re super athletic. They can play a lot of different ways defensively. (...) They get under your skin and make you play faster than you want to play.”

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina (25-1, 12-0) vs LSU (18-6, 8-4)

When: Thursday, February 20, 7:00 pm

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network+