When: Marry. January 6, 2021 at 8 pm CT
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
TV: ESPNU
Streaming: CLICK HERE
Radio: Aggie Radio Network / 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
After achieving his first conference victory, a challenging week is ahead for Texas A&M (6-2, 1-1 SEC), starting with a trip to South Carolina on Wednesday at 8 pm CT at Colonial Life Arena .
The Aggies are coming out of a 68-66 victory over Auburn. Second year Emanuel Miller led the way with 16 points while his sophomore colleague Andre Gordon also added 10 points, including the winner of the game with 1.6 seconds remaining.
After slowing down an accelerated attack by Auburn, the Aggies will face a different challenge against South Carolina, which gave Buzz Williams’ team a lot of trouble last season, winning twice in double figures.
Looking at Wednesday’s game, Williams said that his team will have to be ready to face the physicality and intensity with which the Gamecocks play and that they embody their head coach Frank Martin.
“What I can say is the two times we played them last year,” said Williams. “Regarding hand-to-hand combat, they hit us in the mouth several times and we never, never delivered a blow. I remember beating five guys at once last year in Columbia because we didn’t have a fight. So, no matter who they have regarding the virus eligible to play, we will have to fight the way we did today just to have a chance.
“Until I came here, the coach and I fought every year, regardless of where he worked or where I worked, because I thought it was a great representation for our program to see how hard you have to play and how hard you have to play and the hand-to-hand combat involved just to have a chance. So I thought we missed that point miserably last year, perhaps more than in the other 16 games we played at the conference. “
So far, it has been a unique season for South Carolina, which has suffered from cancellations and postponements.
After falling to Houston on December 5, South Carolina did not play again until last Saturday, when they won a 78-71 victory over Florida A&M. Still, this will only be Gamecocks’ fifth game of the season and the first against a Power-Five opponent.
Gamecocks return some familiar players in AJ Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard, averaging 14.8 and 13.8 points per game respectively. Justin Minaya is the third in the team with an average of 9.0 points per dispute, while he leads the team with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game.
Wednesday’s game marks the 12th meeting between the two schools. Gamecocks have won the last four meetings and the Aggies are looking for their first win in Columbia since 2015.