Florida Gators vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, 3/2/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Gators vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Location: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC

TV: SEC Network

Colonial Life Arena is where the South Carolina Gamecocks (23-5) will play the Florida Gators (20-8) on Saturday.

The Florida Gators faced Missouri and notched a win by a score of 83-74 in their last game. Florida ended having earned a 49.2% field goal percentage (30 out of 61) and made 8 out of their 23 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Gators buried 15 of their 23 tries for a percentage of 65.2%. In the matter of rebounding, they earned 37 with 13 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 16 assists for this game while creating 9 turnovers and having 5 steals. Regarding defending, Florida allowed the other team to go 48.2% from the field on 27 out of 56 shooting. Missouri totaled 10 dimes and had 8 steals in the game. Furthermore, Missouri collected 26 rebounds (6 offensive, 20 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Missouri ended up shooting 80.0% when shooting free throws by knocking down 16 of 20 attempts. They also made 4 of their 18 tries from beyond the perimeter. With respect to personal fouls, the Gators finished with 19 while Missouri totaled 18 personal fouls.

Tyrese Samuel is one player who played a role for this game. He went 75.0% from the floor and earned 1 assist. He was on the hardwood for 32 minutes and also collected 10 boards. He accounted for 28 points on 12 out of 16 shooting.

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Florida enters this matchup with a win-loss mark of 20-8 for the campaign. They average 84.7 pts per game (9th in the country) while connecting on 45.5% from the floor. The Gators are shooting 33.6% on shots beyond the perimeter (219 of 652) and 69.2% from the free throw line. As a unit, Florida is grabbing 43.7 rebounds per game and has totaled 430 dimes for the season, which is 67th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 12.0 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.8 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Gators have forced 11.0 turnovers every game while drawing 18.7 fouls. They surrender 32.1% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 315th in D-1 in PPG allowed (77.0). The Gators are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.5% (780 of 1,794) and they surrender 35.6 rebounds per contest as a squad. They currently rank 66th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 322 conceded for the season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the South Carolina Gamecocks took home the win by a final score of 70-68 when they played Texas A&M. When discussing rebounds, South Carolina permitted Texas A&M to get 35 in total (10 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 11.8% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 2 out of 17 and walked away from this one shooting 22 out of 25 at the free throw line (88.0%). The Gamecocks permitted Texas A&M to knock down 22 of 57 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.6% for the contest. When the final whistle was blown, the Gamecocks walked away from this one shooting 28 for 61 from the field which had them sitting at 45.9%. When talking about three-point shots, South Carolina knocked down 8 out of 25 tries (32.0%). They were able to convert 6 of the free throws for a percentage of 46.2%. Texas A&M was called for 15 fouls for the contest which got the Gamecocks to the free throw line for 13 shots. They also coughed up the ball 6 times, while getting 2 steals for this contest. The Gamecocks recorded 23 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 32 for the matchup.

Meechie Johnson was important for the Gamecocks for the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 14 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and totaled 5 rebounds. He totaled 22 points in his 28 minutes on the court and totaled 3 assists in the game.

South Carolina has a record of 23-5 on the season. The Gamecocks are committing 15.9 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 71.5% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 15.6 times per game (46th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 10.3 times per game. South Carolina has scored 2,008 points this year (71.7 per contest) and they average 36.1 boards per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Gamecocks are shooting 44.0% from the floor, which has them ranked 226th in Division 1.

The South Carolina defense gives up 32.6% on 3-point shots (159 of 488) and their opponents are knocking down 72.4% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 10.9 dimes and 32.1 boards per contest, which is ranked 35th and 41st in those categories on the defensive end. The Gamecocks are ranked 22nd in college hoops in PPG allowed with 65.3. They have forced 9.7 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 41.9% from the field (76th in the country).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Florida

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