With only four regular season games remaining, the South Carolina men’s basketball team heads to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide, one of the three SEC teams that the Gamecocks have won against this season.
South Carolina (13-13, 4-10 SEC) defeated Alabama in a close game on Jan. 13, with the Gamecocks winning 68-66.
Since then, both teams have struggled through conference play. South Carolina is 3-8 since last facing Alabama and the Crimson Tide is 4-7.
South Carolina’s latest loss came last Saturday as the visiting Texas A&M Aggies clawed past the Gamecocks for a 62-52 win.
Alabama is also coming off a loss, albeit a more heartbreaking one, losing at home to Georgia, a team that South Carolina is 2-0 against this season, 66-65.
Looking back at the last matchup between the two teams, South Carolina built up a 13-point second half lead, but had to hold on at the last second for the win as the Crimson Tide mounted a huge rally. Alabama senior guard Levi Randolph missed a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Gamecocks held on for the two-point victory.
The leading scorers for South Carolina in this last meeting were senior guard Tyrone Johnson and junior forward Michael Carrera with 13 and 12 points, respectively. For the Tide the leading scorers include junior guard Ricky Tarrant and senior guard Randolph with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The players to watch for in the upcoming game include each teams’ leading scorers.
Sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell leads the Gamecocks with 11.5 points per game. Although he made three three-pointers in the loss to Texas A&M, Thornwell played only 20 minutes and sat out for most of the first half after picking up two early fouls just a little over two minutes into the game.
Sophomore guard Duane Notice is averaging 11.1 points per game for South Carolina, second on the team. Notice had a team-high five assists against Texas A&M while playing a career high 40 minutes. As for the Crimson Tide, the leading scorers include Tarrant and Randolph, who score 14.7 and 13.1 points per game.
Through 26 games, South Carolina is holding opponents to just 38 percent shooting. South Carolina head coach Frank Martin hopes for that type of tough defense in Tuesday night’s game, but is also hopeful that the Gamecocks will shoot the ball better themselves.
“All we can do is continue to stay where we’re at and not get wound up about style of play or opponent,” Martin said. We have to prepare ourselves for what we have to do to win the next game on the schedule and remain in a positive place.”
After facing the Crimson Tide, South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena to host Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 28.