How To Watch: South Carolina at No. 5 Tennessee

South Carolina's men's basketball team is set for it's toughest challenge of the season in Dalton Knecht and the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers.

With a wave of momentum under their feet and some added motivation, Lamont Paris' South Carolina Gamecocks are looking to play spoiler once again versus a Top 6 nationally-ranked team within their conference in the Tennessee Volunteers. However, if the Gamecocks want to pull off another upset, they'll have to do it this time in one of the most hostile environments in the SEC: Knoxville, TN.

The Volunteers are currently in second place in the conference with a 5-1 record in SEC play and a 15-4 record overall this season. In this matchup, the Gamecocks will have to contend with the fact that their opponent matches up well in an aspect they usually hold an advantage in: experience. Rick Barnes' starting lineup consists of three 5th-year players and two 3rd-year players who have started a combined 354 games at the Division One level.

Dalton Knecht is the main player South Carolina will have to account for tomorrow night. The Northern Colorado transfer has been on an absolute tear since SEC play began, averaging an eye-popping 28 points and 5 assists per game on 54.6 percent shooting from the floor and 46.2 percent shooting from behind the arc.

The scarier part about Dalton's offensive outburst is that his play hasn't dropped off at all against conference foes who rank in the Top 68 in KenPom when it comes to defensive efficiency: Mississippi State (11th), Georgia (53rd) and Alabama (66th). The bottom line is nobody has figured out how to stop, much less slow down the potential runaway favorite to win SEC Player of the Year.

In some ways, Tennessee is similar to the Gamecocks when it comes to their team's strengths: taking care of the basketball (17th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.58) and playing tenacious defense (4th nationally in field goal percentage defense | 37.73 percent). This matchup will be by far the toughest that South Carolina has played to this point in the season, as they'll have to contend with a raucous Volunteer crowd, find a way to contain a superstar volume shooter in Dalton Knecht and win their matchups against a team who prides themselves on the same things the Gamecocks do.

How To Watch: South Carolina @ No. 5 Tennessee

• Gameday: Tuesday, January 30th, 2024
• Venue: Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, TN)
• Game time: 6:30 PM ET
• TV: SEC Network
• Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
• Live stream on fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!

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