COLUMBIA, S.C. – In a top-five matchup between the past two national champions, No. 5 LSU (20-0, 5-0 SEC) will play at No. 2 South Carolina (18-1, 6-0 SEC) Friday afternoon in Colonial Life Arena at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN as the Tigers put their unbeaten record on the line.
Roy Philpott and Rebecca Lobo will call the action inside the sold-out Colonial Life Arena on ESPN with Holly Rowe serving as a sideline reporter. Fans can also listen to Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
The game was originally scheduled to be played Thursday, but travel issues brought on by Winter Storm Enzo forced the game to be pushed back one day. ESPN’s College Gameday was scheduled to be in Columbia Thursday, but now the pregame show will not take place anymore because of the schedule change.
The Tigers are off to their second 20-0 start over the past three seasons. It is the second-best start to a season in program history; the 2022-23 team began the season 23-0, dropping its first game at South Carolina. The Tigers have options to score the ball and have had at least two players score 20+ points in 11 games this season, including in all of the previous three games.
LSU and South Carolina have matched up four times since Kim Mulkey became LSU’s coach. The Gamecocks have won all four matchups. LSU lost by six last season during the regular season matchup in Baton Rouge. In the SEC Tournament Championship it was a close game that the Gamecocks won by seven.
The last time LSU played in Columbia was during the 2022-23 season, a matchup South Carolina dominated and won by 24 points. But LSU was able to take what they learned from that defeat and use it the capture the 2023 national championship.
South Carolina has been the most dominant team in the SEC over the past decade. The Gamecocks own a 68-game home winning streak and a 53-game SEC regular season winning streak.
The Gamecock’s only loss this season came at the hands of UCLA who is the only unbeaten team other than LSU remaining this season. The Bruins won that game by 15 points before vaulting to the top of the polls. Since then, South Carolina has dominated opponents, winning 13 in a row all by double figures, six against ranked opponents. Friday will be South Carolina’s fourth straight game against a ranked team, winning their last three by an average margin of 25 points.
South Carolina’s roster is lined deep with talent. The Gamecock’s bench has averaged over 40 points per contest this season. South Carolina feature 10 players who averaged over 15 minutes per contest, nine who score at least five points per game.
**LSU Press Release
