South Carolina Athletics
By Chris Marler
It was a fantastic day around the Southeast yesterday. Beautiful weather, Mardi Gras parades and great basketball everywhere. Here’s our Saturday SEC hoops recap of what you may have missed.
The women steal the show
Roughly 95 percent of the basketball season features men’s and women’s teams playing on separate days. When the LSU and South Carolina women face off, though, it’s destined to be a prime time matchup and schedules deserve to be moved.
On Saturday night, LSU hosted the Gamecocks in a top ten matchup that featured no love lost between either squad despite it being Valentine’s Day.
The PMAC is rockin for Valentine’s Day: LSU vs South Carolina on ABC 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/mkxFtACSv5
— CHAMPSIDE (@theCHAMPSIDE) February 15, 2026
A crowd of over 13,200 people packed out the PMAC to watch the game. Flau’Jae Johnson was awesome, pouring in 21 points and eight rebounds. Mikaylah Williams added 11 points and Amiya Joyner grabbed 13 rebounds.
However, the issue wasn’t the offense as the LSU defense had no answer for Tessa Johnson or Raven Johnson. Tessa Johnson was 4-of-5 from deep and Raven Johnson was 3-of-5. They combined for 40 points on the night.
The LSU bench came into the game leading the nation in points per game averaging 40.6 ppg. They accounted for just 18 on Saturday and the Tigers were brutal from the field most of the night. The Tigers couldn’t buy a three pointer, going 2-for-17 on the night and not making a single three after the 6:49 mark in the first quarter.
It was LSU’s 18th straight loss to South Carolina.
What the PMAC should always look like…pic.twitter.com/wUVf53ffRi
— TigerDroppings (@TigerDroppings) February 15, 2026
Florida Continues to Separate
Florida hosted Kentucky on Saturday in a battle for what could have tied the conference standings. Like the Kanye meme though, “I guess we’ll never know.”
Florida opened up a 10-2 lead and never looked back. The Gators led the entire game and set the pace for all forty minutes. Four of Florida’s starters scored double digits, and they went on to win 92-83. It is their fifth straight win and their tenth win in their last 11 games.
Few teams in the country are playing better basketball than the Florida Gators right now. Their 19-6 record has vaulted them all the way up to the two line in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. They would be the only no. 2 seed in the SEC and the highest seeded team from the conference.
Xaivian Lee in Florida’s win over Kentucky:
22 PTS | 3 AST | 7/12 FG
Up and down season for Lee, but will be much needed for their hopes in March
Gators have won 10 of their last 11 and playing as well as anyone in the country pic.twitter.com/eipABpN1bL
— GREENLIGHT MEDIA (@greenlightbball) February 15, 2026
Oklahoma caught fire…literally
Our lock of the week was Oklahoma over Georgia. Despite Oklahoma’s 2-9 conference record, they were coming off a big win on the road at Vanderbilt and had a full week of rest. Them catching fire on the court should’ve been no surprise in their 94-78 win. The popcorn stand catching fire off the court, however, was a big surprise to everyone.
The Georgia-Oklahoma basketball game had to be delayed after a popcorn machine caught fire at one of the concession stands 😳 pic.twitter.com/PidoKWscSm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 14, 2026
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