With South Carolina and host Clemson fielding rosters with numerous new players, the teams might need a bit of an introduction to what’s at stake Tuesday night when they meet in their annual in-state rivalry clash.
“I don’t know if it resonates with them as much, the specifics of the rivalry,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “As you know, we have a lot of new guys. I don’t know that it resonates with as much pop as it generally has, so we’ll play that up some.”
Clemson coach Brad Brownell said he thought his team lacked energy during a weekend victory, but that should change with South Carolina’s arrival.
Clemson (8-3) got back on track Saturday by defeating visiting Mercer 70-63 four nights after falling victim to BYU’s comeback. In the Mercer game, the Tigers overcame a halftime deficit to win.
“Some games you just don’t have your best sometimes, and you’ve got to figure it out while you’re playing,” Brownell said.
Clemson received a boost from reserve Zac Foster, who had 10 of the bench’s 22 points and also supplied a career-best seven rebounds.
South Carolina (7-3) will play its only true road game of its nonconference schedule. It’s crucial for the Gamecocks in several ways.
“More importantly, it’s a great opportunity for us to get a Quad 1 win,” Paris said. “So to go on the road at a place like Clemson, they’re going to be full of energy when we play them now, that’s for sure.”
The Gamecocks have won back-to-back home games against Stetson and The Citadel since dropping three in a four-game span. Saturday night’s 71-55 decision against The Citadel didn’t leave Paris pleased.
“Not good but barely good enough, it seems,” Paris said.
Meechie Johnson’s 19 points against Citadel pushed him to 1,000 career points as a member of the Gamecocks. He has played 73 games for South Carolina.
It’s unclear whether South Carolina power forward Elijah Strong will be available after he logged only four minutes against The Citadel because of an injury.
“Really, it’s one of those injuries that’s just up to the player as to if he feels that he can fight back,” Paris said.
