It is a busy Tuesday across college basketball with several notable matchups taking place. Tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET in an SEC matchup, the South Carolina Gamecocks will face off with the Texas Longhorns.
These two teams have faced off just three times in program history. In last season’s matchup, South Carolina walked away with an 84-69 victory.
Looking at the odds for this year’s matchup, Texas enters as a 12.5-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the game total set at 151.5.
South Carolina at Texas prediction, preview
The South Carolina Gamecocks enter with an 11-11 record on the season and have gone 2-7 in SEC conference play. They have been beaten up during conference play, coming off a 92-87 overtime loss to LSU in the previous game and dropping six of their last seven games. On the season, South Carolina has gone 9-13 against the spread, and the game total has gone 11-9-2 to the over/under.
Meechie Johnson Jr. headlines the production for South Carolina, posting averages of 15.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds. Mike Sharavjamts adds 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Elijah Strong, Eli Ellis and Kobe Knox each also average in double figures, while Myles Stute and Grant Polk play key roles in the rotation as well.
As a team, South Carolina is scoring 77.5 points per game, which ranks 164th among D1 basketball teams. It ranks 140th in offensive rating, 232nd in team field-goal percentage, 297th in team three-point percentage and 42nd in turnovers per game. Defensively, teams are scoring 74.9 points per game against the Gamecocks, which ranks 215th in the country. They also rank 236th in defensive rating, 242nd in opponent field-goal percentage and 59th in opponent three-point percentage.
The Texas Longhorns hold a 13-9 record and have gone 4-5 in SEC conference play. They defeated Oklahoma in their previous game but are 4-3 across their past seven matchups. On the season, Texas has gone 13-8 against the spread, with odds not being offered on DraftKings for the matchup with DII Chaminade, and the game total has gone over in 12 of the 22 matchups.
Dailyn Swain headlines the production for Texas, averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Matas Vokietaitis adds 14.9 points and 6.6 rebounds of his own, while Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark each average 12.9 points per game. Camden Heide is the team’s leading three-point shooter, connecting on 52.9% of his perimeter shots while attempting 3.2 long-range attempts per game. Simeon Wilcher, Chendall Weaver and Nic Codie also play valuable roles.
Sean Miller’s group is averaging 85.5 points per game, which ranks 28th among D1 teams. The Longhorns rank 17th in offensive rating, 24th in team field-goal percentage, 147th in three-point percentage and get to the free-throw line for the ninth-most attempts per game. Defensively, opponents are scoring 74.9 points per game against Texas, which ranks 216th in the country. The Longhorns also rank 206th in defensive rating, 136th in opponent field-goal percentage and 294th in opponent three-point percentage allowed.
South Carolina at Texas pick, best bet
Texas showed some encouraging defensive flashes at the start of the year, but this unit has struggled in recent games. Regardless, the Longhorns’ offense is the most dominant unit in this matchup and will have no problem putting points on the board against this South Carolina defense.
Both these teams are fairly battle-tested, ranking in the top 75 in strength of schedule, but they have had different degrees of success in these matchups. South Carolina pushed LSU to overtime in the previous game, but it was blown out 95-48 by Florida in the previous game and has lost by a combined 57 points to Arkansas and Texas A&M since Jan. 14th. Texas has still picked up some losses by nature of its tough schedule, but has ranked wins against Alabama, Georgia and Vanderbilt on its resume, all since Jan. 10th.
When South Carolina is able to slow the pace of play and limit teams from strong scoring outputs, there is a path to remain competitive. But Texas will be one of the more elite offenses it has faced, and expect the Longhorns to have success in this battle. The Gamecocks do a nice job protecting the three-point line, but most of Texas’ offensive production occurs inside the arc. South Carolina has also gotten into some foul trouble in stretches and has done a bad job allowing opponents to get to the free-throw line at a high rate. This could be bad news against a Texas team that ranks ninth in free-throw attempts per game.
Texas will have the home-court advantage in this matchup, and the Moody Center is a tough place to play. The Longhorns have gone 9-3 straight-up and 7-5 against the spread when playing at home this season. They are also 7-6 ATS as the favorites and 6-3 ATS in conference matchups. In contrast, South Carolina is 5-7 ATS as underdogs and 3-6 ATS in SEC matchups.
Expect this game to remain competitive in the early portions before Texas is able to reach a level of offensive production that South Carolina cannot match. Count on there being no answer for Dailyn Swain and for the Gamecocks to lack the necessary perimeter shooting to get fully back in the matchup. Expect this matchup to get ugly in the second half and for Texas to cover the 12.5-point spread.
