Mississippi (18-7, 8-4) vs. South Carolina (13-12, 8-4)
Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi looks for its fifth straight conference win against South Carolina. Mississippi's last SEC loss came against the Mississippi State Bulldogs 81-75 on Feb. 2. South Carolina is coming off an 84-77 win over Texas A&M in its most recent game.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: The Rebels have been led by Terence Davis and Breein Tyree. Davis is averaging 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds while Tyree is putting up 18.4 points per game. The Gamecocks have been led by Chris Silva and A.J. Lawson. Silva has averaged 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and two blocks while Lawson has put up 13.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
IN-CONFERENCE IMPROVEMENT: The Gamecocks have scored 75.2 points per game to conference opponents so far. That's an improvement from the 71.8 per game they recorded against non-conference foes.
CREATING OFFENSE: Lawson has either made or assisted on 41 percent of all South Carolina field goals over the last three games. The freshman guard has accounted for 18 field goals and 14 assists in those games.
PERFECT WHEN: The Gamecocks are 6-0 when they block at least six opposing shots and 7-12 when they fall shy of that mark. The Rebels are 13-0 when they hold opponents to 70 points or fewer and 5-7 when opponents exceed 70 points.
THREAT FROM DISTANCE: Mississippi's Tyree has attempted 140 3-pointers and connected on 40.7 percent of them, and is 17 for 34 over the last five games.
CLAMPING DOWN: Mississippi's defense has forced 15.3 turnovers per game this season, but is averaging 18.6 takeaways over its last five games and 19.7 over its last three.
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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
