What to watch for: South Carolina hosts Vanderbilt

South Carolina just snapped an eight-game skid and now looks to put together its first winning streak in SEC play.

The Gamecocks, fresh off a three-point road win at Ole Miss, return home for a Valentine’s Day matchup against Vanderbilt. 

This is the second meeting between these two teams with the first a back-and-forth overtime win for Vanderbilt. Here’s watch to watch for this time around with the Commodores heading to Columbia.

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Building, building and building

South Carolina hasn’t won back-to-back games this calendar year, the last consecutive wins coming on Dec. 22 and Dec. 30 against Western Kentucky and Eastern Michigan. The Gamecocks haven’t won back-to-back league games since last season when they won four straight near the end of the season. 

Saturday’s win in Oxford is certainly a good thing, snapping an eight-game losing streak, but can South Carolina take what they did well against Ole Miss and do it again three days later? 

That’s the biggest question heading into a game KenPom has as just a five-point spread with South Carolina given a 32 percent chance to win. How South Carolina responds after a win will be interesting to watch. 

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Josh Gray vs. Liam Robbins

Tuesday’s game pits two 7-footers against each other, both of whom are playing fairly well at the moment. One big reason Vanderbilt’s on this heater is because of center Liam Robbins, who’s averaging 21.7 points on 43.5 percent shooting and he’s 7-for-12 from three. He’s also averaging 10.3 boards and 4.7 blocks. 

That’s aided by a 32-point, 10-board day last time out against Florida. He’s the eighth-best offensive rebounder and fourth-best defensive rebounder in SEC play. He’s also the best at blocking shots and drawing fouls.

The Gamecocks have Josh Gray, who is statistically the best offensive rebounder in the SEC and the third-best defensive rebounder. Over his last seven games Gray averages 10.7 boards per game to go along with 8.4 points on 53.3 percent shooting. 

It’ll be a really fun matchup against two guys who have become big pieces of their respective teams. 

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All eyes on GG Jackson

Another moment of adversity hit for Jackson, who logged a season-low 12 minutes against Ole Miss with just six of those coming after halftime. With Jackson largely on the bench, South Carolina averaged 96.7 points per 100 possessions in the second half while Ole Miss averaged 76.7. 

Each time Jackson’s been faced with a tough moment he’s responded, scoring 16 points in a win at Kentucky and 23 at Missouri off the bench. In those games he’s shot 14-for-22 from the field and 5-for-8 from three.

How he responds Tuesday will be another big moment in his career. 

How much defense carries over?

South Carolina is coming off its best defensive performance efficiency-wise in SEC play, allowing just 93.2 points per 100 possessions. That’s the first time the Gamecocks have allowed fewer than 100 per in leauge play.

Vanderbilt’s offense is better than Ole Miss, so how does the defense continue to stay consistent? The Commodores are terrible defensively, so the Gamecocks will have chances to score, but can they stop what’s been a really good Vanderbilt offense over the last three games?

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Scouting the opponent

Vanderbilt struggled to start SEC play but things have trended up as of late. The Commodores are still just a game over .500 overall and 6-6 in the league but have won three straight, including a buzzer-beater over a top-five KenPom team in Tennessee and a road win at Florida. 

They’re sixth in offensive efficiency (107) in 12 SEC games and dead last in defensive efficiency (115.6). Vanderbilt doesn’t turn the ball over much, just 14 percent of possessions, but doesn’t force many either. 

It’s the fourth-best three-point shooting team in SEC games (33 percent) but struggles from two-point range. This is a matchup of the two teams ranked 13th and 14th in SEC play in assist rate (Vanderbilt is last) with nearly 55 percent of points coming from either three or the free throw line.

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Robbins has been great this year but guards Tyrin Lawrence (11.1) Jordan Wright (10.3) are also scoring in double figures. Four-man Myles Stute can also be a problem, a 9.5 points, 5.2 rebound per game big who’s shooting 40.5 percent from three. 

Game details

Who: South Carolina (9-16, 2-10 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (13-12, 6-6 SEC)

When: Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. 

Where: Colonial Life Arena (Capacity: 18,000)

How to watch/listen: SEC Network/Gamecock Sports Network

Series history: Vanderbilt leads 33-31 (Last matchup: 84-79 Vanderbilt win in overtime Jan. 3)

KenPom projection: 72-67 Vanderbilt win (Gamecocks given 32 percent chance to win)

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