Tennessee vs. South Carolina: How to watch and game thread

Tennessee got back on track earlier this week, pulling away from the Missouri Tigers late on the road to find the win column once again. It was a much needed victory for Tennessee, which had dropped four of their last five entering that matchup.

Freshman point guard Santiago Vescovi was once again a spark plug for the Volunteers, igniting a late run that allowed Tennessee to take control of the game in the closing minutes. Rick Barnes saw a positive night from senior guard Jordan Bowden, who added 13 points. Jalen Johnson also delivered offensively for Tennessee, finally looking like a legitimate scoring option off the bench.

Vescovi’s arrival has made Tennessee a much better offensive team, but they’re still figuring things out on the fly. The Volunteers are producing over 17 turnovers per game in SEC play to this point, which leads the conference. Cleaning that up will go a long way towards Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Their next test will come against Frank Martin’s South Carolina Gamecocks this afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. South Carolina has had an interesting couple of weeks. The Gamecocks followed up a huge win over Virginia with a loss to Stetson. They then began SEC play with a loss to Florida.

The Gamecocks no longer have star power forward Chris Silva to lean on. He and Grant Williams had some big battles over the last few seasons, but now each have moved on to the NBA. Sophomore Guard A.J. Lawson has taken the lead role for South Carolina now, averaging over 15 points per game this season. The 6-6 guard will pose a big challenge for the Tennessee backcourt today, which has seen some defensive lapses lately.

Maik Kotsar leads the way down low for South Carolina, checking in at 6-11, 270 pounds. Kotsar is the only other Gamecock averaging double figures this year, outside of Lawson.

Tennessee has won four straight games against South Carolina, but as we know, this is a much different team than we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.

KenPom Team Rankings

Tennessee: 49th

South Carolina: 111th

Gameday Information

Tip-off time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

TV Channel: SEC Network

Radio: Vol Network

Streaming Link: Watch ESPN

Odds: Tennessee -6.5