Florida has been the better team this season and is playing at home, so it will certainly be favored to win this one. The Gamecocks were able to pick up the victory the first time these two teams played and hopes to use that confidence to perform well in this one.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, at the Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Florida.
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Odds at BookMaker.eu
The Gators are 22-5 straight up and 14-13 against the spread. Florida has played ten home games this season and has covered in six of them. Florida has played really well as the favorite, covering in 16 of their 22 matchups when giving points, while they have yet to cover in four tries as the underdog. Luckily for the Gators, they will be giving points in this one.
South Carolina is 20-7 straight up and 11-14 against the spread. The Gamecocks have played in nine road games this season and have covered in four of them. They have gone 3-3 against the spread as the underdog this year.
Last Meeting
The Gamecocks pulled out a low-scoring win in the first battle this year, 57-53. Sindarius Thornwell had a game-high 20 points to lead the way as South Carolina pulled ahead early in the second half and held on for the victory.
Thornwell missed six games because of suspension previously but proved his worth in that one, and hopes to keep it rolling this time out. Thornwell had 44 points a couple weeks ago and is averaging 20.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on the season.
Florida went 0-for-17 from three-point range but still almost pulled off the win. That bodes well for this one as the Gators will shoot better this time around.
Injury Report
Center John Egbunu suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, which is a big blow to the Gators. He was averaging 7.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, anchoring the defense in the paint.
Egbunu was a valuable contributor and Florida will need its other players to step up. Florida did win its first game without him, knocking off Mississippi State by five points last time out.
The Gamecocks could look to take advantage by going down low more than usual knowing that they won’t have to deal with Egbunu’s shot-blocking ability.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
The Gamecocks enters this game losers of three of their past four and want to end that streak in this one, but will have a tough time. Florida has won eight consecutive games, including a big-time blowout of Kentucky, and is looking like it will be a high seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Florida plays well at home but keep an eye on the spread. If South Carolina can manage to keep this one low-scoring, it may be able to hang tough and cover. Even though the Gators don’t have Egbunu, they have enough firepower to come away with the victory in this one to even up the season series with South Carolina.
Florida is in a tight race with Kentucky for SEC supremacy and this will be a big win to keep them even with the Wildcats as that comes down to the wire.
College Basketball Odds: Florida 68, South Carolina 61
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