The SEC tournament opens tonight (Wednesday) in Tampa, Florida. Ole Miss and Mizzou will square off to open the tourney and Georgia and Vandy will tangle in the night cap. South Carolina is the 7 seed and opens their SEC tournament appearance Thursday against 10th seeded Mississippi State. The Gamecocks are 18-12 overall and 9-9 in SEC play. The Bulldogs 17-14 and 8-10 in league games.
The Gamecocks and Bulldogs split a pair of regular season meetings, each winning on their home floor. Miss. State won in Starkville 78-64 on February 1st. South Carolina avenged that loss winning at Colonial Life Arena 66-56 on February 23rd. South Carolina finished the regular season winning three of its last five. The two losses came to NCAA tournament teams in Alabama and Auburn. MSU comes in having lost three of four to finish the regular season.
The Bulldogs are known to the bang the boards, as they are 2nd in the SEC in rebounding margin at nearly plus 6 per game. Big men Tolu Smith and UNC transfer Garrison Brooks both average in double figures, Brooks leads the club in rebounding at 6.7 per game. However, their go-to guy is 1st team All-SEC performer Iverson Molinar. He averages nearly 18 points per, shoots 46% from the floor and ranks 21st nationally in free throws made.
South Carolina will hope Jermaine "Maine Attraction" Couisnard stays hot for them. He's averaging 21 points per over the last 5 games and has been the driving force behind their late season improvement.
South Carolina is looking for their 1st win in the SEC tourney since 2018. Miss. State is 26-17 all time against the Gamecocks and 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. The series however is tied at 2 games each all time at neutral sites. The Gamecocks and Bulldogs will square off at 6 PM Thursday night, the game will be televised on SEC Network. The winner will get Tennessee in the Quarterfinals Friday. South Carolina would likely have to win the SEC tourney to get into the "Big Dance". However, a win vs MSU would keep them in contention for an NIT bid, two wins would all but lock that bid up.