South Carolina will look to continue its mastery of host Georgia when they both try to end losing streaks in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday in Athens.
The Gamecocks have dominated the Bulldogs in recent years, winning the past 12 meetings dating to January 2017. South Carolina won the two games last season by an average of 14.5 points.
But both teams had disappointing 2021-22 seasons, which led to each to make a coaching change, with Lamont Paris taking over the Gamecocks and Mike White picked to lead the Bulldogs.
Both enter Saturday’s game riding season-high losing streaks.
The Bulldogs (13-7, 3-4 SEC) were held to a season low in points while dropping their third straight game with a 70-41 setback at No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday. South Carolina (8-12, 1-6) lost its fourth straight with an 81-60 defeat at Florida on the same day.
Georgia was outscored 35-19 in the second half and finished 16 of 55 (29.1 percent) from the field, including 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. Georgia allowed 25 points off 20 turnovers.
“I don’t know if we could have generated enough offense to beat them,” White said. “You can’t win on the road with 20 turnovers.”
The Bulldogs’ Terry Roberts, who averages a team-high 15.6 points, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game, finished with 11 points and two assists against Tennessee. Kario Oquendo (12.9 points) was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting.
South Carolina never led against the Gators, falling behind by as many as 11 points in the first half before the Gators’ advantage ballooned to as many as 30 in the second half.
The Gamecocks’ Gregory “GG” Jackson II, who averages a team-high 16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, had 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Gators. Meechie Johnson (11.9 points) was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“Coach Paris has been relaying the message to us that anytime we get within eight or six, it seems like everything seems to fall apart,” Jackson said. “We came into the game tonight thinking if we miss a shot, just try and get it back on defense and keep attacking. I guess that wasn’t the case with some guys on the team.”
–Field Level Media
