Samuel leads No. 24 Florida against No. 18 South Carolina after 28-point outing
Florida Gators (20-8, 10-5 SEC) at South Carolina Gamecocks (23-5, 11-4 SEC)
Columbia, South Carolina; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 24 Florida plays the No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks after Tyrese Samuel scored 28 points in Florida's 83-74 victory over the Missouri Tigers.
The Gamecocks have gone 13-2 at home. South Carolina has an 18-5 record against opponents above .500.
The Gators are 10-5 in SEC play. Florida scores 84.7 points while outscoring opponents by 7.7 points per game.
South Carolina scores 71.7 points per game, 5.3 fewer points than the 77.0 Florida gives up. Florida has shot at a 45.5% clip from the field this season, 3.6 percentage points greater than the 41.9% shooting opponents of South Carolina have averaged.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Meechie Johnson Jr. is averaging 13.8 points for the Gamecocks. B.J. Mack is averaging 13.3 points over the last 10 games for South Carolina.
Walter Clayton Jr. is scoring 16.8 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Gators. Zyon Pullin is averaging 16.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 44.8% over the past 10 games for Florida.
LAST 10 GAMES: Gamecocks: 8-2, averaging 69.5 points, 34.4 rebounds, 17.1 assists, 4.8 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.4 points per game.
Gators: 8-2, averaging 84.5 points, 41.9 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 5.9 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.9 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
