Georgia basketball: Three keys to victory against South Carolina
Georgia basketball takes its two-game SEC winning streak into South Carolina Wednesday night. The Dawgs lost their first game to the Gamecocks on Feb. 12.
It’s rematch day in Columbia. Georgia basketball looks for revenge after losing to South Carolina 75-59 points two weeks ago. The Dawgs trailed 22-7 at one point of that game and were behind 38-20 points at halftime. Georgia outscored South Carolina in the second half, but by then, it was too little, too late. Here’s what Georgia needs to do differently Wednesday.
Get Anthony Edwards involved early
When Georgia last played South Carolina, Anthony Edwards was still dealing with the flu. He gutted out 29 minutes and still scored 16 points. He only scored six points in the first half and four of them came at the foul line. He missed seven three-pointers in the game.
Two weeks later, Edwards is healthy and shaking off the effects of the flu. He’s coming off a pair of solid games against Vanderbilt and Auburn. He’s going to need to take that consistency into Columbia Wednesday night and he needs to show it off early. Six points in the first half and 0-7 from the beyond the arc through the game didn’t cut it last time and it certainly won’t cut it this time.
Get some rebounds
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Georgia allowed South Carolina to dominate the boards in the first meeting. The Gamecocks out-rebounded the Dawgs 45-33 and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds which led to 13 South Carolina points. Rebounds were without a doubt, the difference in the game. For Georgia to win, it needs to limit South Carolina’s offensive rebounds and grab a few itself.
Further cut down on turnovers
Turnovers killed Georgia in the first half at Vanderbilt leading to the Dawgs trailing most of the game. The Dawgs cut down on the giveaways in the second half and chipped away at the Commodores lead until eventually they were in striking distance late in the game.
Georgia turned the ball over 19 times in the first meeting against South Carolina, 10 were off of steals by the Gamecocks. That can’t happen again. Between the turnovers and offensive rebounds, Georgia surrendered way too many scoring opportunities to South Carolina.