TV PROGRAM: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 9 pm on SEC Network
LOCATION: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers will seek to reinforce and maintain their current position at the Southeast Conference with a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks, fighting a 5-9 overall record this year, are only looking for their fourth conference game win. , as they are tied for second to last at the SEC.
The volunteers will go out smelling blood at the Thompson-Boling arena after losing 13 to LSU on Saturday. Previously, Volunteers reported victories against Georgia (8 points) and Kentucky (11 points). In defense, Volunteers have stood out. They kept their opponents at around 62 points per game, which is the top 15 in the country.
In addition, Volunteers kept their opponents with a field goal percentage of 46.4% of the two-point range and an overall field goal percentage of 40.2% – both good for the top 75 in the country. In the three-point range, opponents barely hit 30% of their shots against the Tennessee team, which ranks the Volunteer as 30th in the country.
In his last three games, freshman Jaden Springer starred and led the Volunteers led by Rick Barnes. Springer reached 57.1% of his goals in 14 shots per game, including 50% in three in the last three games. Even more impressive, Springer continues to fill the stats sheet with five rebounds per game and three assists per game, along with 1.3 steals per game and 1.3 blocks per game. Springer is a general threat to volunteers.
Despite having junior guard AJ Lawson leading the team, the Gamecocks come from three consecutive defeats. This Frank Martin team did not have the most typical year, with almost a month between games starting in early December and lasting until early January. The constant stops and starts have an obvious effect on Gamecocks, as they have experienced two straight three-game losing streak this year.
Junior guard AJ Lawson is having the best season of his three-year career under coach Frank Martin with South Carolina’s offensive rating Gamecocks Lawson increased 14 points since his first year from 102.2 to 116 (5th best in the SEC ) in 2021.
Specifically, Lawson has an average of 19.1 points, the best of his career, in conference games, an increase of seven points over the previous year. Lawson may be the only bright spot for South Carolina Gamecocks now and it is definitely worth keeping an eye on during any game.
Lawson is currently in the top ten in the SEC in percentage of pitches, steals per game, offensive classification, percentage of three point shots, points per game and turnover percentage. If Lawson had a solid support cast, he may be in the conversation for the SEC’s player of the year. However, with a team below 0.500, it is difficult to defend Lawson.
The South Carolina Gamecocks will end their season with four more games against conference opponents; Missouri, in the state of Mississippi, Georgia and against Vanderbilt. The Volunteers, still fighting for sowing, will end their regular season with a home game against Kentucky, followed by two away games against Vanderbilt and Auburn, respectively.
PREDICTION: Tennessee Volunteers 83, South Carolina Gamecocks 68