Florida Gators vs. South Carolina: Preview, Info, Where to Watch and More

Everything you need to know as the Gators return to Gainesville to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday evening.

After splitting a two-game road stretch in the third week of January, the Florida Gators (11-8; 4-3 SEC) are looking to build momentum in their return to Gainesville heading into a difficult stretch of contests ahead. Set to face the No. 5, No. 4 and No. 2 teams in the country as well as Kentucky on the road in the next four contests, earning a convincing win over South Carolina (8-11; 1-5 SEC) on Wednesday evening is crucial.

To do so, Florida will have to end a disparaging statistic in the series as the first host to reign victorious in the last six meetings.

However, the Gamecocks are recently removed from knocking off Kentucky inside Rupp Arena, showing they have the capacity to contend with middle-tier conference teams on the road.

You can find everything you need to know about the matchup below.

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Florida Gators vs. South Carolina

Where: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.

When: Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. EST

Watch: ESPN2

Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / SiriusXM 380 / SXM App 970

Odds: Florida is a 17-point favorite over the Gamecocks, according to the Sports Illustrated Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 134 points.

Series history: Florida leads the all-time series against South Carolina, 47-28. In the previous meeting, the Gators defeated the Gamecocks on the road, 71-63, to continue a trend of road team victories stretching over the last six matchups in the rivalry.

Important stories

• Florida looking to put slow starts in rearview mirror
• Florida starting forward Alex Fudge doubtful vs. South Carolina
• Gators fail to overcome historically poor first half, fall 54-52 to Aggies
• Fresh tape proving 'beneficial' as Florida prepares for Texas A&M rematch
• Takeaways from Gators statement victories over LSU and Missouri
• Gators forward Colin Castleton named SEC Player of the Week
• Colin Castleton eclipses 1,000-point mark at Florida
• Forward CJ Felder taking temporary leave of absence from Gators
• Gators produce hard-fought road victory over LSU, 67-56
• What did we learn from Florida's loss to Texas A&M, win over Georgia?
• Todd Golden optimistic about Florida's growth post-Auburn
• Todd Golden sets tournament-level expectations for year-one campaign
• Gators basketball 2022-23 player profile: Center Colin Castleton
• Profile: Center Jason Jitoboh
• Profile: Center Aleks Szymczyk
• Profile: Forward CJ Felder
• Profile: Forward Alex Fudge
• Profile: Wing Riley Kugel
• Profile: Wing Kowacie Reeves Jr.
• Profile: Wing Will Richard
• Profile: Wing Niels Lane
• Profile: Guard Myreon Jones
• Profile: Guard Denzel Aberdeen
• Profile: Guard Trey Bonham
• Profile: Guard Kyle Lofton
• Gators' complete 2022-23 schedule

The rundown

The Southeastern Conference experienced immense turnover following the 2021-22 season.

Seeing six head coaching openings filled by new faces, the league looks drastically different in 2022-23. Todd Golden and Lamont Paris are representatives of those changes.

While the ultimate goal is to focus on winning against the entirety of the league, gauging a team's progress by comparing foes in similar positions is a common practice. For Golden, he's reigned supreme in the battle of year one head coaches, knocking off all four he has played against this season (Mike White; Georgia; Matt McMahon; LSU, Dennis Gates; Missouri and Chris Jans; Mississippi State).

On Wednesday, he looks to go for the clean sweep as the Gators take on Paris' South Carolina Gamecock squad.

However, on a broader scale than the year-one head coaching battle, the Gators have an opportunity to build needed momentum with a convincing win over the Gamecocks prior to a daunting stretch of contests in the subsequent four appearances.

Accomplishing that goal will involve limiting the impact of true freshman forward Gregory "GG" Jackson II and Ohio State guard transfer Meechie Johnson.

Jackson currently leads the team in points (15.9) and rebounds (6.7) per game, while Johnson's provided offensive facilitation at a high clip (3.5 assists per game) for SCAR this season. It hasn't resulted in an abundance of wins — or efficiency as the 244th-rated team for adjusted efficiency on Kenpom (No. 240 AdjO and No. 241 AdjD) — but the Gamecocks unit showed it can play up to opponents when it took down Kentucky inside Rupp Arena on Jan. 10.

Colin Castleton stands two inches taller than Jackson, 6-foot-9, who anchors the SCAR five spot this season. That can present Florida with some opportunity to exploit the matchup inside on both ends of the floor, predominantly as the offense operates through the star big man.

That small ball lineup from South Carolina will also allow Florida to incorporate Will Richard at the four in replacement of an injured Alex Fudge suitable without any reservations about losing strength on the defensive end or on the boards.

Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones will continue to control the attack at the one and two spots after accounting for 11 assists and zero turnovers on Saturday. The duo will likely play a major role in Florida's ability to create open looks inside and on the perimeter.

The Gators enter the contest as a resounding 17-point favorite over the Gamecocks, looking to produce their first statement win of SEC play this season and work out the remaining kinks before facing No. 5 Kansas State on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC challenge.

Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.

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