Once the South Carolina men’s basketball team returns home for their second-to-last home game for the year after a missed opportunity in Alabama, they'll take on Mississippi State for the first time this season.
The Gamecocks (13-14, 4-11 SEC) last played the Bulldogs (12-16, 5-10 SEC) in the 2013-14 season in Starkville, Mississippi, winning 74-62.
That last encounter in Humphrey Coliseum was when South Carolina gained its first win since 2007 against Mississippi State on their home court. The win also gave the Gamecocks the chance to go up against Auburn in the first round of the SEC tournament in 2014.
This time, the matchup will take place in Colonial Life Arena, Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.
As they battled throughout its last game against the Crimson Tide, the Gamecocks couldn’t finish the things they needed to in order to end the game strong — the rug was pulled out from under South Carolina late in the second half, as Alabama finished the game on a 9-2 run. The Gamecocks just couldn't find their footing after.
South Carolina couldn't finish the game on a high note, but head coach Frank Martin was still impressed with junior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius, who had a career high of 18 points, shooting seven for 12 from the field while draining all four of his free throws, as well as Alabama senior guard Levi Randolph’s 17-point performance.
“A lot of credit to Levi Randolph. We battled to tie the game after being atrocious to start the second half,” Martin said. “We were so bad to start the second half. We were bad at the finish of the first half and just worse to start the second half. We kept battling and figured out a way to tie the game, and then Levi did what seniors do. They protect their home court, they put their team on their back in difficult moments, a lot of credit to him.”
South Carolina sophomore guard Duane Notice was impressive in the game, hitting four three-pointers in the second half, as he finished with a total of 16 points in the game.
The game was never out of reach, but Martin wasn't happy with his team's complete play.
“I'm disappointed in our lack of aggressiveness, especially from our guards. I'm very disappointed, but it is what it is,” Martin said. “Instead of being aggressive in our zones, we are being way too passive, and unless we change, the outcomes will remain the same.”
The Bulldogs' last game resulted in a 74-65 home loss against undefeated No.1 Kentucky Wildcats. Mississippi State is looking to improve its conference record, and South Carolina is next on its radar.
South Carolina has a 9-5 record at home compared to Mississippi State’s record of 3-7 in away games. As it's the first matchup of the season between the two, each team can only look at each other’s seasonal performance against other SEC teams to determine a game plan.
The Bulldogs score 61.9 points and commit 14.9 turnovers per game in comparison to the Gamecocks 64.7 points and 13.2 turnovers, respectively.
The leading scorers for South Carolina include Notice and sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell.
Leading scorers Notice, who leads the team with 11.3 points per game, and sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell, with11.2 points on average, just beat out Mississippi State’s leading scorers junior forward Gavin Ware and junior guard Fred Thomas, who average 10.2 and 9.9, respectively.