South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks’ Sweet Sixteen matchup and game time are set; Preview and how to watch vs. UCLA
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina basketball punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen on Sunday with their 30-point win over South Florida. However, their opponent was still up in the air, and no game time had been decided.
Those things have changed since then. Late Monday night, UCLA topped Oklahoma. The 4-seed Bruins will be Carolina’s matchup in Greenville, and there is no doubt that the pro-Gamecocks crowd at Bon Secours Wellness Arena will be a raucous one. In November, UCLA traveled to Colonial Life Arena in Columbia and gave the Gamecocks one of their toughest games of the season.
In that November matchup, the Bruins led at halftime, and the score was tied after three quarters. The game was a mason’s dream as brick after brick was thrown up by the two squads. Each group shot less than 40% for the game. The Gamecocks were an anemic 7% from the 3-point line, and the Bruins weren’t much better at just over 20%.
UCLA got most of their offensive production from their guards as Charisma Osborne and Kiki Rice combined for 40 points and 11 rebounds. Aliyah Boston carried the load for South Carolina as she logged 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists while only missing two shots from the field. Kamilla Cardoso was very good, as well, as the 6’7” forward added 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks.
The Gamecocks will likely need to get a more balanced effort in order to beat the Bruins this time around. Perhaps under-seeded as a 4-seed, UCLA beat a very good Arizona squad and one of the best teams in basketball in Stanford on their way to a PAC-12 Tournament Finals appearance. Their win over Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 was also impressive as they got out to a big lead early, collapsed, and then recovered enough to still win by nine points.
Dawn Staley’s squad knows that things are different now that they’ve passed through the NCAA Tournament’s first two rounds. With no disrespect meant to Norfolk State or South Florida, UCLA brings a different level of talent to the table. Carolina has seen what the Bruins are capable of first hand, and they will have to get off to a better start (especially with their rebounding effort) than they did against the Spartans and Bulls.
The Sweet Sixteen matchup will take place at 2:00 on Saturday, March 25th. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and the ESPN App.