Who: #6 South Carolina (23-3, 11-1) vs. Arkansas (9-18, 2-10). Columbia, SC

Time/TV: 7:00 on SEC Network

Line: SC -41.5. Total: 144.5

History: South Carolina leads 27-18 all-time and 13-5 in Columbia. Carolina is 20-4 against the Hogs under Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks have won the last nine meeting after the Hogs dealt Carolina their only SEC Tournament loss in Greenville under Dawn Staley in 2019. 2010 was Arkansas' last win on the Gamecock home court.

Last Meeting: February 29, 2024. Carolina 98-61. South Carolina easily dispatched Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena behind a double-double from Ashlyn Watkins (21 points and 11 rebounds). MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson both scored in double figures off the bench with 17 and 12 points respectively. The Hogs were led by current Gamecock Maryam Dauda with 19 points.

No team was hit harder by the transfer portal than Mike Neighbors club was last offseason. Arkansas saw four starters enter the portal with three committing to SEC foes. Taliah Scott to Auburn, Samara Spencer to Tennessee, Dauda to South Carolina and Saylor Poffenbarger to Maryland. Neighbors was able to land former Missouri and Arkansas State guard Izzy Higginbottom. Higginbottom leads the SEC in scoring at 24 points per game, that mark is good enough for fifth in the nation. She's only 5'7 but she manages to get the foul line nearly as much as the rest of her team combined. Izzy is a 90% foul shooter as well. Outside of Higginbottom, who also leads the team with 3.6 assists per game, there isn't a lot going on in Fayetteville. Arkansas might get their second best player, Kiki Smith, back tonight. She has been out since late January but is listed as probably tonight.

Mike Neighbors is in his eighth season at Fayetteville. He's only posted two winning record in the SEC. This season will be the third straight that Arkansas has failed to reach the postseason. The Hogs have made two NCAA Tournaments under Neighbors and lost in the first round both appearances. Neighbors days could be numbered in Fayetteville.

Arkansas' results against top 20 competition, all losses: 101-52 at UCLA, 98-64 to LSU, 90-56 at Texas, 93-63 at Tennessee, 94-62 to Alabama and most recently 89-50 to Ole Miss.

South Carolina has seen its SEC winning streak and home winning streak snapped in the last two weeks. With the home winning streak broken emphatically. Despite the ugly home loss to UConn, South Carolina and the Huskies are still the co-favorites to win the National Championship at +300. Vegas thinks this is a six-team race with UCLA and Notre Dame right behind at +450, Texas at +650 and Southern Cal at +700. LSU is seventh and they are +3000! Vegas thinks the UConn beatdown was a one-off, Arkansas won't provide any answers. At Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will provide some clarity, both are dangerous teams that will hear their names called on Selection Sunday. Kentucky has a solid record but they've lost their most difficult road games and they'll be visiting Columbia following back-to-back games with LSU and Tennessee.

UConn looked like they leaned heavily on Tennessee's fourth quarter attack against Carolina. The Vols went into transition immediately following poor shot selections from the Gamecocks. The Huskies also completely controlled the glass against South Carolina- something they've been unable to do the last five years.

“We can handle the threes in half-court that they made, it’s all transition. The easy buckets, it was rebounding. That’s what gutted us, transition and rebounds.” Staley said.

The performance was so bad, the worst home loss since 2008, it was so bad that Staley questioned if there was something else going on. “A loss like this is about toughness,” Staley said. “A loss like this isn’t about anything besides getting our players to keep the main thing the main thing. Obviously when you lose like this, something else is going on that isn’t just about basketball. So we’ve got to figure that out and get back on it.”