Game of the Week: South Carolina vs LSU

We have a top 10 matchup at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. No. 3 South Carolina takes on No. 6 LSU. Who will win?

South Carolina Gamecocks

This impressive South Carolina team is led by sophomore forward Joyce Edwards, who has averaged 20.3 points per game; senior center Madina Okot, who has averaged 10.2 rebounds per game; and senior guard Raven Johnson, who has averaged 5.4 assists per game. The Gamecocks have only lost two games this season against a No. 16 Oklahoma team and against a No. 4 Texas team. Recently, South Carolina defeated No. 19 Tennessee, 93-50. The dominant performance was led by senior guard Ta’Niya Latson, who scored 21 points. Edwards scored 20 points and had eight rebounds while Okot hit a double-double with 10 points and an impressive 16 rebounds. Every starting player hit double digits with both junior guard Tessa Johnson and R. Johnson hitting 14 and 13 points respectively. Raven Johnson had seven assists.

There really isn’t much else to say about South Carolina. They are dominant to the core and why they are ranked third in the country. They demolished Tennessee and seem to have corrected the issues that caused their losses to Oklahoma and Texas (who are also impressive teams.)

Other notable teams they have beaten are No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Texas, No. 22 Louisville, and No. 8 USC. So, it’s quite evident they fixed their issues given they won round two against Texas.

Players to watch: Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot, and R. Johnson

LSU Tigers

The Tigers are led by senior guard Flau’jae Johnson who has averaged 13.8 points per game; senior forward Aimya Joyner, who has averaged 7.1 rebounds per game; and junior guard Mikaylah Williams, who has averaged 3.8 assists per game. The Tigers also have an impressive record, only losing three games. Those three games were against No. 4 Texas, No. 12 Vanderbilt, and No. 11 Kentucky.

In the game against Texas, Williams was electric with 20 points and Flau’jae Johnson scored 11 points and had seven rebounds. Freshman forward Grace Knox also helped with six rebounds alongside freshman guard ZaKiyah Johnson, who had seven, off the bench. However, the Tigers had a turnover problem against the Longhorns. They had nearly double the turnovers over Texas 19-10. Other than that, the Tigers were pretty matched up with the Longhorns in terms of shooting. The Tigers did get more three-point shots off but they were just not landing which resulted in a 38% three-point percentage (5-13).

LSU is dominant but there are clearly some holes. Against Vanderbilt, they had more turnover problems going 22-12 compared to the Commodores. The opposite happened against Kentucky, where turnovers were not the issue but rather it was rebounds. It will depend on what kind of LSU team faces South Carolina, but those are some issues that could plague them in this game.

Players to watch: Aimya Joyner, Mikaylah Williams, Flau’jae Johnson

Prediction: Looking at everything, it is South Carolina’s game to lose. They are simply dominant and any issues are quickly fixed. I expect the Gamecocks to win this one.

Photo Attribution: CCS Pictures, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons