South Carolina basketball: matchup with Ole Miss postponed due to COVID
By Jacob Elsey
Today’s South Carolina basketball game has been postponed.
Frank Martin and the South Carolina basketball program have struggled with the COVID pandemic all year, having to cancel or postpone five games to this point of the season. There’s now been a sixth game added to the list as the Gamecocks’ matchup with Ole Miss tonight will need to be moved to a later date in the year. Ole Miss will instead take on LSU, who had its meeting with Missouri postponed due to COVID protocol, too.
Our Jan. 9 matchup at Ole Miss has been postponed due to a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within our program. Full release ⤵️https://t.co/LTqhXQQTMy
— Gamecock Men's Basketball (@GamecockMBB) January 8, 2021
South Carolina had just begun its conference slate, taking down the Texas A&M Aggies by a score of 78-54 on Wednesday night to get off to a 1-0 start in league play. Hopefully, this hiccup won’t halt the momentum, as the Gamecocks prepare for a matchup with a Tennessee team that’s currently ranked in the top 10.
Even in wins over Florida A&M and Texas A&M these last two weeks, the Gamecocks have been shorthanded. In the 78-71 win over the Rattlers, South Carolina had only eight scholarship players available. That number was bumped up to nine versus the Aggies, as forward Jalyn McCreary was able to make his way back to the court for the conference opener.
With those two wins, the Gamecocks jumped 30 spots in the NET rankings, which are used to evaluate the strength and performance of each college basketball program. After entering last week at No. 103, the two South Carolina victories helped the team land at No. 73 in the latest release.
If the Gamecocks could stay on the court, they could have a chance to improve that standing even more. They’ll miss out on an opportunity to get a road win versus Ole Miss, who sits at No. 58 in the nation, but should they get back on track next week, there lie three straight matchups against teams in the top 25 of the NET rankings.
Hopefully Frank Martin and Co. will be able to make a return to the court soon, but there’s no telling when the team will be back at full strength. For now, we’ll wait and see what happens in the days leading up to the matchup with the Vols.