Three things to watch for as South Carolina hosts Radford on Tuesday

South Carolina will be back in action on Tuesday as it hosts Radford at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Here are three things to watch for before the Gamecocks (3-0) tip off against the Highlanders.

🏀 Attention: GamecockCentral is at the game to provide updates. Follow along on the The Insiders Forum (beginning approximately 30 minutes before tip-off). Don’t miss any of the action!

Don't overlook this Radford team

Don't let the record fool you into thinking this isn't a team that can compete with South Carolina on Tuesday. Radford has lost three straight games and dropped a bit in the KenPom rankings, but the Highlanders could certainly cause some problems if the Gamecocks aren't careful.

This will be the second straight year that Radford travels to Colonial Life Arena after suffering a 74-48 loss to the Gamecocks last season on Dec. 22. After getting off to a 2-0 start, the Highlanders traveled to Chapel Hill, where they kept up with No. 18 North Carolina for most of the first half. They'd end up losing 89-74, but they nearly outscored the Tar Heels in the second half.

READ HERE: Everything Lamont Paris said ahead of South Carolina-Radford

After that game, Radford was ranked as high as No. 142 in KenPom, which is fairly high for a mid-major team. It has since plummeted to No. 230 following losses to Wright State and Cleveland State.

"They're not going to be intimidated by us, that's for sure," head coach Lamont Paris said on Monday. "I mean, they played North Carolina already. So there'll be no intimidation factor."

One thing to note is that the Highlanders have been one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, only shooting 26.3 percent from the outside. This should bode well for South Carolina, which relies heavily on three-point shooting to score its points.

Radford mainly relies on a pair of high-major transfer guards as its go-to scoring options. Dennis Parker Jr., who played at NC State for the last two seasons, leads the team with 16.4 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting. Del Jones, a Clemson transfer, is averaging 15.4 points on 67.7 percent shooting.

Two injured players expected to be back in action

South Carolina should have Christ Essandoko and Nordin Kapic fully available and ready to play on Tuesday, according to Paris. Both players were banged up with injuries last week, but Paris said they've each made progress and were a full go in Monday's practice.

Essandoko didn't suit up last week against Presbyterian, while Kapic, who dealt with a deep thigh bruise, only played three minutes coming off the bench.

Your GamecockCentral membership starts at just $1 for the first week – and we’ll throw in a complimentary year of access to The Athletic.

What will South Carolina rely on offensively?

South Carolina's main source of offense has been its three-point shooting, and that should continue to be the case more times than not throughout the year. With that said, the Gamecocks will need to find other ways to score besides from the outside, which they managed to do well in their last game.

After missing their first six three-pointers against Presbyterian, Paris decided to try something else and have the players attack the rim. Meaning, instead of continuing to shoot threes, they drove inside the paint and took more layups, sometimes even contested ones, leading to a lot of free throw shots.

South Carolina shot 42.1 percent from the floor and went 25-for-32 at the free-throw line. It also took good care of the ball with a season-low six turnovers. So, at the very least, it showed it can make adjustments on the fly and find a different way to win a game.

Even with more emphasis on inside scoring, the Gamecocks still took 25 three-point shots, making eight of them in that game. They will continue to take those shots if they're there, but it's going to be interesting to see how much that happens. Will they make a similar switch again if the shots aren't falling? That's also what these early games are for — to adjust and see what works and what doesn't.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!