No. 17/16 Gamecocks Headed to Starkville for Regular Season Finale

­­­­COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 17/16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC) heads to Starkville today to face Mississippi State (19-11, 8-9 SEC) in the SEC regular season finale. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday with Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

The Gamecocks are seeking a top-four seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, which would give the team a double-bye to the quarterfinals. In nine SEC Tournaments since 2013 with the current, double bye format, Carolina has earned the automatic quarterfinal spot three times (#3 seed in 2016, #4 seed in 2017, #4 seed in 2019).

The Gamecocks are currently part of a four-way tie for second place with Auburn, Alabama and Kentucky. A number of vast tiebreak scenarios could occur pending the outcome of Saturday’s games from around the league. Carolina would currently be seeded fifth, per the current tiebreaker (head-to-head winning percentage among tied teams).

South Carolina defeated the Bulldogs 68-62 back on Jan. 6 in the SEC opener. Meechie Johnson had 24 points, scoring 15 over the final 11 minutes to lead the Gamecocks to victory, snapping a three-game losing streak to Mississippi State. Tolu Smith III and Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 13 points each.

It’s Senior Day for Mississippi State, who will be hungry for a win after three-straight losses (two to ranked teams) to boost its postseason resume. Hubbard, one of the top freshmen in the league, and Smith III each average 16.1 points per game. An experienced group, the Bulldogs’ roster features six players with over 100 games played in college.

The Gamecocks have not won at The Hump since a 77-73 victory back on Feb. 11, 2017. All-American Sindarius Thornwell had 28 points to lead all scorers in the SEC clash.

A win on Saturday would give the Gamecocks 25 regular season victories, which would be a new program record. The 25 wins would also tie the 1969-70 and 2015-16 teams for the second most wins in a season in program history. It would also give Carolina 13 SEC wins (second most in program history behind only the 1996-97 team) and seven SEC road wins, which would tie the 1996-97 SEC Champion squad for the most league road wins in a single season in program history.

VENUE: Humphrey Coliseum

BROADCAST: SEC Network

PLAY-BY-PLAY: Kevin Fitzgerald

ANALYST: Daymeon Fishback

RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network  

IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game

  PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott

  ANALYST: Casey Manning

SIRIUSXM: 208 or 191 | SXM APP: 962

WATCH: espn.com/watch

LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

SERIES: Bulldogs lead, 29-18

IN STARKVILLE: Bulldogs lead, 15-4

SERIES TREND: Gamecocks snapped three-game losing streak with SEC opening win earlier this season. State has won 10 of the last 14 matchups.

LAST MEETING: 68-62 Gamecock win on Jan. 6, 2024 at Colonial Life Arena.

UP NEXT

Carolina heads to Nashville for the 2024 SEC Tournament next week. The Gamecocks will ei­ther play Friday or Thursday depending on the outcome of Saturday’s contest from around the league. There is currently a four-way tie for second. The top four seeds earn a double bye and an automatic spot in the quarterfinals.

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