Strong challenge awaits No. 18 Georgia vs. South Carolina
Coming off its first power conference win of the season, South Carolina will face No. 18 Georgia in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, SC.
South Carolina (10-5, 1-1) built a 28-point lead and held on for a 78-68 win at LSU on Tuesday, marking the Gamecocks' first road conference win since March 2024. The league's second-worst scoring offense (80.1 points per game) shot a season-high 57.1% (12 for 21) on 3-pointers and made its first nine shots on Tuesday -- an area that coach Lamont Paris would like to see repeated against Georgia.
"It was good that we got off to a really good start, and our defense fed off that," Paris said. "The fact that both of those things came together at the same time was why we were able to build such a big lead. Obviously we needed all of that as we came down the stretch."
Paris' team didn't earn a conference win until Feb. 22 last season after dropping its first 13 SEC games. Helping the Gamecocks gain a better start this season is Boston College transfer Elijah Strong, who scored a career-high 30 points on Tuesday.
"His natural gifts are as an offensive guy," Paris said. "He can score in a variety of ways. He's pretty versatile. Even how he helps generate offense; he's got a good feel for what to do and when."
Meechie Johnson leads South Carolina with an average of 14.0 points per game, while Mike Sharavjamts and Strong add 11.6 apiece.
Georgia (13-2, 1-1) saw its seven-game winning streak end Tuesday in a 92-77 loss at Florida. The Bulldogs are as highly ranked as they've been since reaching No. 17 in February 2003, but they may need a win on Saturday to keep from falling out of the Top 25.
The Bulldogs' chances of prolonging a stellar start to the season took a hit on Tuesday as starting center Somto Cyril was ejected for a forearm to Florida's Rueben Chinyelu's face, resulting in an ejection.
Cyril averages 9.5 points and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game but played just seven minutes against the Gators. The 6-foot-11 sophomore wasn't suspended by the league and will be back as a much-needed low-post force against the Gamecocks.
"He's come a long way with his emotions," Georgia coach Mike White said of Cyril. "He understands. He was down on himself in the locker room at halftime and after the game. What do you do with these things? You learn from them. You've got to own it, and you've got to grow from it. I have every anticipation that that's what he'll do."
In Cyril's place, forward Dylan James had 16 points off the bench.
"Credit to him with his toughness, his readiness to play, his attitude," White said of James. "He's such a good teammate. He's such a good culture guy. Played hard as hell, and he's very, very intelligent."
Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.2) leads Georgia scorers, but the Cal transfer finished with a season-low two points in Gainesville. Blue Cain adds 15.1 and Marcus Millender scores 12.0 per game for the nation's highest-scoring offense (97.9 ppg).