By Brant Daughtry

Help Wanted

The Gamecocks of South Carolina are coached by Lamont Paris, who is in his first year as head coach in Columbia. Paris was a decent coach at UT-Chattanooga, leading the Moccasins to an NCAA Tournament appearance in one of his five years there. He’s been an assistant on a couple of Final Four teams as well.

This year, to say the least, isn’t going well for South Carolina. The Gamecocks are 8-10, with a 1-4 conference record. The NET Rankings have them ranked 282nd in the country, dead last in the SEC and more than 100 spots lower than second-to-last LSU, who Auburn just handled pretty easily in Baton Rouge. They average losing by 8 points, scoring less than 64 per game. There’s nothing they do particularly well, and other than a wild win over an at-the-time floundering Kentucky team, there aren’t any real moments to speak of.

Players to Watch For:

Forward GG Jackson II, #23- Jackson is really the only threat to speak of. The 6’9″ freshman was the number one player in the class of 2023, and reclassified to the class of 2022. Without him, USC East would be even worse off than they already are. He leads the Gamecocks in points, blocks, rebounds, and minutes played, all by a sturdy margin. He has 80 more shots taken than the guy in 2nd place. Another game, another inside test for Johni Broome.

Guard Chico Carter Jr, #2- A senior from Murray State, Carter is the shooting threat for South Carolina. He’s shooting a pretty incredible 48% from three. He’s third on the team in points, and a guy who can be dangerous if you let him get hot. Just ask Kentucky.

The hardest part of this game should be getting up to play it. Auburn is better at just about everything, and is far more talented. As always, anything can happen on someone else’s floor, and this team has proven it can get hot from deep and hang with anyone. However, they’ve lost four of their last five, failing to score more than 58 points in all but one of those losses, needing overtime to do so. Jackson is a super talented freshman, but again, that’s kind of all they have. Against Kentucky, they shot the ball with an effectiveness they hadn’t shown before, and haven’t shown since, over 50% from deep. Obviously, if they hit at that clip again, it’ll be hard to keep up with them. But, if the team that they usually are shows up, Auburn should come away with this one pretty cleanly. Again, Johni Broome on the inside is a key matchup. If he can slow down Jackson, Auburn has a chance to walk away really comfortably.