How to watch/what to watch for: First place in SEC up for grabs as South Carolina hosts Tennessee

And so it all comes down to this. Not even Hollywood can write a script this enticing.

In a game where the stakes are as high as ever, No. 17 South Carolina faces No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday night. Not only will the Gamecocks go for their second win of the year over the Volunteers, but it’s also become a battle for first place in the SEC.

If the Gamecocks want a shot at the SEC regular season title, it starts with beating this same Tennessee squad once more. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Here are some things to watch for.

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Fine tune the game plan

So much went right for South Carolina in the first meeting between these two teams. Tennessee was held to just 59 points on 36.2 percent shooting, atypical from the usually high-scoring offense.

But the Gamecocks did such a good job of breaking down the Volunteers and taking some of their better shooters out of the game. Outside of Dalton Knecht, Tennessee shot just 29.4 percent from the floor.

At the same time, it’s not like South Carolina had the best shooting night either. In fact, it shot just 33.9 percent as a team that night. So that’s something that can be improved upon.

It’s hard to beat a team twice in one season. But if the Gamecocks can do what they did last time on a higher scale, their chances are about as good as they can get.

Slow down Knecht

As referenced before, the only player South Carolina had a tough time stopping was Knecht. The 6-foot-6 guard dropped 31 points on 11-of-24 shooting. But he also missed four free throws, which ironically was how much the Volunteers lost that game by.

It’s going to be priority No. 1 for the Gamecocks to slow him down. Many teams have tried and failed in that quest. He’s such a huge part of what Tennessee does. So one can only imagine what might happen if he’s not on his A-game on Wednesday night, especially when you factor in it’s a road game for the Volunteers.

Home-court advantage

South Carolina is the only team that has gone into Thompson-Boling Arena and beaten the Volunteers this season. It has proven it can hang with that caliber of a team in a hostile environment.

Heading into this next matchup, the Gamecocks will already have the advantage of playing on their home floor at Colonial Life Arena. While college students might be on spring break, it’s still going to be an electric atmosphere, which could pose some problems for the Volunteers.

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Meechie getting hot at the right time

If you go back to that first matchup, Meechie Johnson was almost a non-factor. He scored three points on 1-of-8 shooting. But it was his ability to make plays in other ways that helped get the win. He finished with six rebounds, six assists and two steals that night.

Now, he’s had back-to-back games in which he’s scored more than 20 points, a more prototypical outing from the South Carolina guard. If he can be any bit as good as he’s been recently, it makes Tennessee’s job of slowing this offense down that much harder.

Scouting the opponent

While Tennessee did lose in this game the first time around, this is still a very dangerous team. The Volunteers are 23-6 on the year and getting hot at the right time.

Tennessee beat a very solid Auburn squad at home on Feb. 28 and then went to Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama last Saturday. Keep in mind, the Crimson Tide are also in the fight for superiority in the SEC. But they did just lose to Florida on Tuesday, making this game all the more important.

If the Volunteers can handle business in Columbia and then beat Kentucky at home on Saturday, they will win the SEC regular season title outright.

With the loss to South Carolina still fresh on the minds of the players, expect some of those guys who struggled to have better performances. Zakai Ziegler, who didn’t make a single field goal in the first bout, is averaging 11.4 points per game this year. He’s been showing up big over the last two games for the Volunteers.

Another name to watch for will be Jonas Aidoo, a 6-foot-11 forward. He wasn’t much of a factor in that first game, finishing with six points and five rebounds. Winning the rebound battle is going to be huge for the Gamecocks. But to go up against Aidoo again and make him non-existent has to be a priority.

Game details

Who: No. 4 Tennessee (23-6, 13-3 SEC) at No. 17 South Carolina (24-5, 12-4 SEC)
When: Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m.
Where: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
How to watch/listen: ESPN2/107.5 FM
ESPN gives Tennessee a 73.2 percent chance to win

Odds for South Carolina vs. Tennessee

South Carolina is a five-point underdog heading into this matchup with no current money line set as of right now. The total for this game is set at 140 if you want to bet the over/under.

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