The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Sports

USC's Dwayne Day (23) and Mike Holmes (24) attempt to keep Vanderbilt from scoring during Saturday's game. (Ben Fine/The Daily Gamecock)

USC basketball coach Dave Odom knows that while the Gamecocks have gotten through Georgia once they still have one big obstacle to get over- themselves.

Following a 66-65 loss in the closing seconds to No. 20 Vanderbilt on Saturday, Odom and his team have struggled to find solace in coming close.

"As I told our team, the two biggest problems we have right now is ourselves and Georgia," Odom said. "And that sounds oversimplified, but its really not. Ourselves being we've got to get past Saturday night. And I think we've done a good job at that."

The Gamecocks (11-11, 3-5 SEC) were riding a two-game winning streak coming into Saturday's game, including an upset win over then No. 22 Ole Miss. Now the team turns its focus back to the court and to the team that was the start of that win streak- Georgia.

"It's an important game. We need to come back home Wednesday night with a win. We need that badly," Odom said.

Carolina needed the win badly the last time the two teams met in Columbia. USC was then on a two-game losing streak with a tough two-point loss to Florida and an eight-point loss against Kentucky.

The Gamecocks knocked off a depleted Georgia team 62-56 to earn their second conference victory of the season.

Since the loss, the Bulldogs (11-10, 2-6 SEC) have dropped three straight games and have had to place the team's No. 2 scorer Billy Humphrey on suspension for underage drinking.

Humphrey's suspension only hampers an already depleted Georgia roster, leaving them with just eight healthy and eligible players. With their outside shooting depth limited, the game could go to a more post-oriented game with five players over 6-foot-7.

"Without Humphrey it's a legitimate question of their depth on the perimeter not being what it was," Odom said. "They've got some options, even though they're down a bit in numbers."

With Humphrey out, the focus shifts to Georgia guard Sundiata Gaines. After a 32-point performance against Florida last weekend, Gaines is becoming the focus of the not only his team, but the Gamecock's target on the defensive end as well.

"He is their primary scorer, he is there primary ball handler, he is their primary decision maker," Odom said. "He is the best, in my opinion, defensive guard in the league. He's the catalyst of their team."

Scoring leader Devan Downey, who has been going through an up and down stretch over the past few games, will be the primary player running with Gaines for the majority of the game. While Downey struggled to score 10 points during Saturday's loss, Odom knows that the season's wear will help make games down the road more defensive than offensive.

"They're a difficult team to score a lot of points against. They're a team that wants to keep, particularly now without Billy Humphrey, the score in the 50s if they can keep it there, the 60s would certainly be not to their disliking," Odom said. "Any higher than that and they wouldn't be real pleased. I don't expect it to get any higher than that."

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