Missouri-South Carolina men’s basketball preview

Missouri at South Carolina

▪ WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m. Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.

▪ TV/RADIO: SEC Network; KMBZ (980 AM, 98.1 FM)

▪ ABOUT MISSOURI (7-16, 1-9 SEC): The Tigers are 3-0 all-time against Gamecocks with all three wins coming since joining the SEC. Of course, Missouri also is riding a nine-game losing streak, the program’s longest since a 12-game skid in 1966-67, and has lost 10 straight road games. The Tigers played with only eight scholarship players Saturday in a home loss against Texas A&M because of the suspensions of three freshmen guards — Montaque Gill-Caesar, Tramaine Isabell and Namon Wright. If first-year coach Kim Anderson reinstates Gill-Caesar and Wright, it will help Missouri’s depth against the physical Gamecocks.

▪ ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (11-11, 2-8 SEC): The Gamecocks have lost two straight and six of their last seven games, but both conference wins — against Alabama and Georgia — came at home. South Carolina ranks 39th in the nation with a plus-5.0 rebounding margin per game this season, an area coach Frank Martin’s squad hopes to exploit against a Missouri team that ranks 285th at minus-2.8 rebounds per game this season. The Gamecocks rank third in the SEC in scoring defense at 61.3 points per game, while the Tigers rank last in the SEC in scoring offense at 61.3 points per game.

This story was originally published February 9, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Missouri-South Carolina men’s basketball preview."