When
Wednesday, January 15
5:00 PM CST
*Why, just why? Plan on game starting at 4:15 with West End traffic*
Where
Memorial Gym
Students showed out last Tuesday, props to y'all. The rest of you? What the HELL was that???
TV/Streaming
SECN/ESPN App
Radio
102.5 FM Locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Gambling Lines
Vanderbilt is currently -8
over/under of 142.5
How We Got Here
South Carolina enters Memorial gym during happy hour on Wednesday winless in SEC play, following losses at Mississippi State (85-50) and at home to Alabama (88-68) and Auburn (66-63). Finishing non-conference at 10-3 after losses to North Florida, Indiana, and Xavier; marking them the conference’s worst record coming in to this game.
Vanderbilt suffered its first two game losing streak on Tuesday and Saturday, falling victim to Mississippi State and Missouri. Saturday’s game at Missouri started with a flurry of 3 point shooting from the Tigers, while the Commodores struggled to get the ball in the hoop early. The Dores fought hard in the second half, getting the game to one possession at one point. We got to see the return of healthy Jason Edwards, leading the team with 20 points. If you are one of the fans that has suddenly lost all hope in this team, give it a few weeks, trust me.
What to Expect
The Gamecocks are lead in scoring, rebounds, steals, blocks, and also turnovers by Collin Murray-Boyles. When it comes to height South Carolina has Nick Pringle at 6’10 but plays a lot larger than that, and 7’0 sophomore Jordan Butler. We all know that every Vanderbilt opponent is required to have one player go absolutely nuclear on us, and if you look at the SC roster you already know who it is going to be. Myles Stute makes his return to Memorial Gym for the first time since transferring to the Cocks after the 2022-2023 season. Last year in the matchup in Columbia Stute had 8 points in their 75-60 victory over the Commodores.
The key for Vanderbilt once again is to hit shots, and hit them early. Vandy has a chance to control this game from the opening tip if they can get a run going early in the first half. Look for another big game from Edwards, as the matchup against a not very deep Gamecock bench looks to be favorable whether he gets a bench player or a more fatigued starter guarding him. In my book, Tyler Tanner still doesn’t have a turnover on the season after a bad bad bad hooking call netted him his first of the season. I fully expect this trend to somewhat continue, can’t expect perfection in this conference this season from a Freshman.
Chef Miller's Prediction
82-74 DORES
