Sam Connon takes you through his preview, prediction and pick for Tuesday’s men’s college basketball game between South Carolina and Clemson.

The South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3) and Clemson Tigers (8-3) are set to face off Tuesday night, going head-to-head at Littlejohn Coliseum. The in-state showdown will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The Tigers are 12.5-point favorites at home with -950 moneyline odds, and the total has been set at 142.5 points. Here is a preview of the SEC-ACC matchup featuring odds and lines from DraftKings Sportsbook.

South Carolina vs. Clemson Preview, Prediction

South Carolina Preview

The Gamecocks followed up their season-opening win over North Carolina A&T by fending off Southern Mississippi in overtime. South Carolina got back on track with 20-point and 29-point wins over Presbyterian and Radford, only to lose by seven to Butler and lose by two to Northwestern in West Virginia. Charleston Southern, Stetson and The Citadel didn’t pose too much of a challenge to the Gamecocks, but Virginia Tech did deal them an overtime loss at home on December 2.

Sixth-year senior Meechie Johnson Jr., in his second stint with the Gamecocks, is averaging 15.5 points, 3.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game on 45/38/71 shooting splits. South Carolina’s second-leading scorer is Mongolian forward Mike Sharavjamts, who is putting up 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game following his time at Dayton, San Francisco and Utah. Freshman guard Eli Ellis and Boston College transfer forward Elijah Strong are averaging 10.2 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. South Florida transfer guard Kobe Knox is averaging 9.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game, while 7-footer Jordan Butler has started to encroach on sixth-year forward Myles Stute’s starting job in the frontcourt.

South Carolina ranks top-25 in limiting turnovers, in addition to ranking top-50 in two-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Its three-point offense is the 285th-most efficient in the nation, however. The Gamecocks’ opponents haven’t poured it in from deep, either, ranking second-to-last in three-pointers made and seventh-to-last in three-point percentage.

In the updated KenPom ratings, South Carolina ranks No. 89 in opponent adjusted net rating – dead last among SEC programs thanks to its No. 351 strength of schedule. The Gamecocks’ defense ranks No. 80, while their offense ranks No. 107.

Clemson Preview

The Tigers opened up the season by beating New Hampshire, Gardner-Webb and Morehead State by an average of 38.3 points. Once Clemson ran into a high-major opponent in Georgetown, though, they fell 79-74. Clemson played a few games in Charleston, beating West Virginia and Georgia by three points each, then lost by six at No. 12 Alabama and fell to No. 10 BYU by three up in New York.

RJ Godfrey, who left Clemson for Georgia only to transfer back one year later, is the Tigers’ leading scorer at 11.9 points per game. He also leads the team with a 67.6% shooting percentage and 6.5 rebounds per game. Middle Tennessee transfer guard Jestin Porter has also emerged as a top scorer with 10.8 points per game on 36.9% clip from beyond the arc. Then there’s Utah Valley transfer Carter Welling, a 6-foot-11 center putting up 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in a part-time starting role. Dillon Hunter, Nick Davidson, Zac Foster, Jake Wahlin, Ace Buckner and Efrem “Butta” Johnson are each averaging between 6.2 and 9.5 points a night.

There are only seven teams in the country more protective than Clemson when it comes to its 9.1 turnovers per game. The Tigers’ 32.4% 3-point percentage as a team puts them near the bottom-third of Division I programs, but their opponents’ 27.3% mark is good for the 18th-lowest.

Clemson is No. 30 in the latest KenPom rankings, which slots them in at No. 6 in the ACC. The metrics suggest that the Tigers are better than the sum of their parts, as they boast the No. 33 offense and No. 41 defense in terms of adjusted efficiency. Their 65.3 possessions per 40 minutes, meanwhile, rank No. 338 in the country – good for the eighth-slowest pace by any high-major team.

South Carolina vs. Clemson Pick, Best Bet

All three of the Gamecocks’ showdowns with high-major opponents have cleared 140.5 total points, averaging 158.7 points between them. South Carolina has also scored at least 71 points in every game this season, too. Granted, Clemson will be the sturdiest defense South Carolina has faced so far this season. The Tigers’ five high-major opponents are averaging 79.4 points per game, even though West Virginia and BYU both only scored 67. Alabama and Georgia both topped 90. West Virginia’s lackluster scoring night can be attributed to its offense that ranks outside the top 100, but Clemson locking up BYU is really the only hole in the path towards an over on Tuesday night.

Clemson is favored for a reason, but its only wins over high-major opponents have come by three points – one of which required overtime. And while this bout with South Carolina will be their first high-profile home matchup of the season, the Tigers still only beat Mercer by seven at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday. As for the Gamecocks, their only losses this season have come by two, three and seven points. When an eventual 12-20 South Carolina squad faced then-No. 25 Clemson in December 2024, the Gamecocks won 91-88 in overtime, too.

Best Bet: South Carolina +12.5 (-112)

Strong Lean: South Carolina vs. Clemson o142.5 (-112)