Wednesday Night SEC Hoops: Tennessee vs. South Carolina

The No. 4-ranked Tennessee Volunteers play the No. 17-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks tonight at 7.

on to the next one pic.twitter.com/jQWBJ27VXc

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 5, 2024

Terrific Tennessee

The Vols enter tonight’s matchup having won 12 of their last 14, with one of those two losses coming to South Carolina.

Tennessee has been impressive all season, averaging over 80 points per game. Led by their senior guard, Dalton Knecht, this team offensively has been incredible. Knecht is averaging over 20 points per game on the season, but that doesn’t tell the full story. It’s when the team needs him most, that he shows just how valuable he is. Just a week ago, they had another SEC standings implication game, this time against Auburn. Tennessee took down the Tigers, but not without the help of Knecht who scored 39 of the teams 92 points.

Now, if history is anything to go off of, Knecht scored 31 points against South Carolina back in January. The Vols are going to need a performance like that against a Gamecocks defense that allows just over 65 points per game on the season.

"Coming out to 20,000 fans, going out and hooping with my teammates — it's been real fun."

The best thing we saw last night. Dalton Knecht on SportsCenter with @notthefakeSVP pic.twitter.com/Eo7Vj3dWbf

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 5, 2024

Staggering South Carolina

South Carolina has definitely been the surprise of the season in men’s college basketball.

Coming off of a losing record last year, their first since the 2020 season, it’s fair to say that expectations were not high. That being said, the Gamecocks have impressed. While their offense has been good when they need to be, their defense is where this team shines. This team ranks 24th in the country in points allowed, but tonight, they play a high powered offense in Tennessee.

Having said that, in their previous matchup this year, the Gamecocks held the Vols to under 60 points. That is the only time this year that has happened. Along with their defense, the offense has been efficient. While they don’t have a player like Knecht who averages over 20 points per game, the team has five players averaging over nine points per game.

The Gamecocks are led by their star junior guard, Meechie Johnson, who’s had two 20+ point performance in a row. Alongside him is senior forward, B.J. Mack. Mack has been solid this year averaging over 13 points per game. Even so, his point scoring has been inconsistent. In his last four games, his point totals are, 2, 6, 17, and 18.

Having said that, in their most recent matchup against the Vols, Mack had 16 points to go along with 5 rebounds. South Carolina will be looking for another performance like that to help increase their chances against Tennessee. Head coach, Lamont Paris, has also been great. In just his second season coaching the team, he has turned last year’s 11-21 record around, and now has his team sitting at 24-5.

Despite having beat Tennessee in January, tonight is arguably Paris’ toughest game to date.

https://twitter.com/GamecockMBB/status/1765400885906329992

SEC Standings

This matchup has incredibly large implications on who will be the first, second, and third seed come tournament time in the SEC.

As it stands, both teams have two games left in the season. The game tonight, and one other. Tennessee sits atop the SEC standings with South Carolina right behind them in second. That being said, the Gamecocks have the better record overall compared to the Vols, but Tennessee has the better conference record.

However, if South Carolina were to win tonight and beat Mississippi State, March 9, they would pass Tennessee as the first seed when the SEC tournament starts up. If Tennessee wins tonight, that would solidify their spot as the first seed in the tournament.

Despite it all, there is also the possibility of South Carolina falling to the third seed for the SEC tournament if they lose out and Auburn were to win out.

It is all still to play for in the SEC conference heading into the tournament.