Florida and South Carolina played twice this season. Both had very different results

The No. 4 Florida Gators will face off against the No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday in the Elite Eight, with a Final Four berth on the line. The good news for both of these teams is that since they’re both from the SEC, these two teams have played each other twice before this season.

The thing about the two games this year though, is that they went quite differently for both teams. We’ll go in order and start with the first matchup, from January.

South Carolina’s defense shined bright in this first matchup. In the first half, the Gamecocks actually trailed at halftime, 35-33. But the offense came out firing in the second half, going on a 14-2 run, which Florida was able to come back from, but it wasn’t enough for the Gators. Down the stretch, Florida pulled within 54-53 with 40.3 seconds to go. But Gamecock sophomore PJ Dozier drove down to score South Carolina’s final basket, and Florida’s last possession resulted in the offense fumbling it out of bounds, giving South Carolina the victory.

What’s more telling is some of the stat lines from this game. Defensively, Florida had no answer for Gamecocks senior guard Sindarius Thornwell, who had 20 points on the night, scoring 15 of them in the second half. Florida’s leading scorer, KeVaughn Allen, had just a single point during the game, and the Gators collectively went 0-of-17 from 3-point range, ending an 850-game streak of consecutive games with a three-point basket. Florida was only able to make seven field goals in the second half, and the 53 points scored was the offense’s fewest points of the season.

Yes, you’re reading that 81-66 score correctly, and this just proves how lopsided these two matchups were. Florida was able to rebound from the abysmal offensive performance from the previous matchup. After heading into the locker room with a 35-33 lead, the Gators came out and scored 46 points, while holding the Gamecocks to just 33.

And remember Allen, who had just one point in the last matchup? He scored 26 points, which was his second-highest scoring performance of his regular season. Not to mention he was 3-of-5 from three-point range, and made 13 of 14 free throws. And as far as the three-point shooting went as a whole, the Gators went 9-of-19, scoring six threes in the second half alone.

“It was really big just to see the ball go through the hole,” Allen said after the game via ESPN. “It gave me a lot of confidence throughout the game.”

Given how drastically different these two games went for both teams this season, I feel completely comfortable calling this game a toss-up at this point. South Carolina’s defense is coming off of an impressive defensive performance against the No. 3 Baylor Bears, holding Baylor to just 50 points and 30 percent shooting from the floor on the night.

Allen, meanwhile, who scored just a total of ten points in the first two games of the tournament, finished with a career-high 35 points on the night. His confidence level against the Gamecocks will be key for the Gators on Sunday.

There’s really no telling what this one will hold, but we’re sure in for a treat, given how both of these teams have been playing in recent weeks.

Let’s see what you’ve got, Round 3.