How To Watch: South Carolina at Missouri

For just the second time in the 2023-24 season, Lamont Paris and South Carolina's men's basketball team are looking to bounce back from a gut-wrenching road loss. Unlike their first loss of the season, however, they won't have an easy 'get right' game against a mid-major opponent. This time, the Gamecocks will have to do it in another SEC road environment against the Missouri Tigers.

The Tigers sit at 8-7 on the season and have lost their first two SEC contests against Georgia and Kentucky. A big reason for Missouri's lack of success this season is their defensive struggles. Dennis Gates' squad allows their opponents to shoot 43.3 percent from the floor on average, the second-worst mark in the SEC ahead of just Vanderbilt.

Another alarming trend for the Tigers has been their inability to maintain good positioning on the defensive end of the floor, leading to a whopping 18.6 fouls per game, which is tied for 284th nationally out of 351 division one men's basketball programs. Therefore, this needs to be a game where Meechie Johnson and other guards try to drive the basket, and either look to dish the ball to a frontcourt player or take it themselves and try to get to the line; this strategy could also open up more opportunities for South Carolina to shoot the three-ball if the Tigers counter by packing the paint.

One last note on Missouri: they're not a very good rebounding team. The Tigers are tied for the 53rd worst mark in the country regarding rebounding margin (-3), and their top two rebounders, Noah Carter and Caleb Grill, stand at 6'6 and 6'3, respectively. After what happened on Tuesday night, and knowing how good the defense has been this season, this seems to be a favorable matchup for South Carolina, but no conference road game is ever a guarantee. We'll see if the Gamecocks can get back on the right footing on Saturday afternoon.

How To Watch: South Carolina @ Missouri

Gameday: Saturday, January 13th, 2024.
Venue: Mizzou Arena (Columbia, MO)
Game time: 3:30 PM ET
TV: SEC Network
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
Live stream on fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!

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