South Carolina will travel to Athens this Saturday to face Georgia in a Southeastern Conference (SEC) men’s basketball matchup at Stegeman Coliseum. The Gamecocks, currently holding a 12-16 record overall and 3-12 in SEC play, are seeking to end Georgia’s three-game winning streak in the series. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
The last meeting between the two teams took place on January 10, when Georgia overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat South Carolina 75-70 at Colonial Life Arena. Mike Sharavjamts led the Gamecocks with 18 points in that game, while Kobe Knox recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
South Carolina is coming off a loss to Kentucky earlier this week. Meechie Johnson led the team with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals during that contest.
Johnson has reached the 20-point mark ten times this season—eight of those performances have come against SEC opponents. He is tied for fifth-most such games in conference play behind Darius Acuff Jr., Otega Oweh, Daylin Swain, and Keyshawn Hall. Johnson has also scored in double figures for fourteen consecutive games and had three straight games of at least twenty points from February 14 to February 21.
In conference play this season, Johnson averages nearly twenty points per game along with close to five assists, over three rebounds, and more than one steal per contest. He is among just four players in the SEC ranked both top-ten in scoring and top-five in assists per game during league competition.
As a team, South Carolina leads the SEC—and ranks eighth nationally—in free throw percentage at nearly seventy-nine percent through twenty-eight games. Sharavjamts leads individual shooters on the squad with an eighty-eight percent clip from the line. The Gamecocks are also among the best in the conference for fewest turnovers per game (9.9) and defending against three-point shots (31.6%).
Georgia enters Saturday’s matchup with a record of nineteen wins and nine losses overall (7-8 SEC). The Bulldogs recently saw their two-game win streak snapped by Vanderbilt but previously secured victories over Kentucky and Texas. Georgia currently leads all Division I teams nationally in fastbreak points (20.2) and blocks per game (6.3), while ranking fifth nationwide in scoring offense at almost ninety points per contest.
Jeremiah Wilkinson leads Georgia scorers averaging nearly eighteen points per game; Blue Cain, Marcus Millender, and Kanon Catchings also average double digits for the Bulldogs.
Historically, South Carolina holds a narrow lead over Georgia in their all-time series (64-63), but Georgia has won five out of seven meetings over the past four seasons after South Carolina enjoyed a twelve-game win streak from January 2017 through January 2023.
The Gamecocks will return home next Tuesday to host Tennessee for their regular season finale on Senior Night.
