Today the SEC regular season journey concludes with the South Carolina Gamecocks (14-15 overall, 5-10 SEC) taking on the No. 13 Vanderbilt (23-6, 12-3) in Nashville, TN at 2pm. The Gamecocks are trying to end a six game losing streak while the Commodores are trying to go out with a win on “Senior Day.”
Saturday’s meeting with South Carolina will be the second of the season with the Gamecocks; Vanderbilt claimed the first meeting, 89-79, January 16 in Columbia. Vanderbilt leads the all-time series between the two schools, 23-22, and the Commodores lead the series in games played at Memorial Gym, 12-9. Vanderbilt has won seven out of the last eight meetings with South Carolina.
USC has not won a game since Feb. 10th and today’s contest will take perfect play from the Gamecocks and horrible play from Vandy. USC will need to muster up the same intensity seen in the first 15 minutes of the Mississippi State game and sustain it for the entire game. For Vandy, continued balanced play is on the menu to secure the victory going into next week’s SEC Tourney.
As discussed earlier on LOHD, Vandy has the #2 seed locked up but for USC a win can secure them the #5 seed. Lose this and the #6 seed is awarded.
What will happen: For Carolina to win, the Gamecocks must have success shooting the ball and must not let Vandy dominate the boards. Devan must be Devan. Meaning he needs to pour in about 30 points this game for USC to have a chance. To boot, Muldrow needs a double double with either Jackson, Raley-Ross or Galloway stepping up this game with 15+ points. Key to a SC win would be Vandy being sloppy and SC capitalizing off the mistakes.
Vandy will lean on their balanced scoring attack with senior Jermaine Beal leading the way a very with 14.5 points per game. Sophomore Jeffery Taylor and A.J. Ogilvy average 13.9 points per contest, and Jenkins also averages double figures with 10.6 points per game. For Vandy it is business as usual.
My garnet colored glasses wants to envision a USC win today in a upset but I think Vandy will be focused on closing out a successful season. I feel Vandy wins this by at least 10 points but it will be a struggle for Vandy early. The Gamecocks will make it interesting but just like we have seen in their recent loses – they fade at the end. I see this happening again today with a 79 –69 win for the home team.
For Related Coverage, Check out –
Q&A with Dore Posts about the Vandy vs. Gamecocks Basketball Game
Senior Day Preview: Vanderbilt takes on South Carolina
