March Madness Round 1: Oregon vs South Carolina Preview & Score
Take a Look At The Oregon vs South Carolina Preview In This First-Round Matchup
Oregon vs South Carolina Final Score
Oregon vs South Carolina Preview
The Oregon Ducks earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after winning the Pac-12. At this point, they’re just playing with house money. There’s no pressure on the Oregon Ducks heading into the NCAA Tournament.
They’ll be an 11 seed and face No. 6 seed, South Carolina, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region.
South Carolina most recently lost to Auburn in their second game of the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks lost to the eventual SEC champions.
This season, South Carolina had a couple of bad losses at home to Georgia and LSU. But overall, the Gamecocks finished 26-7 and added quality wins in SEC play against Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida, to name a few.
Will that prepare them for the Pac-12 champs?
Oddsmakers think so. South Carolina is sitting at -1.5 (+100), with the total up to 132.5. However, the total is slightly juiced to the Over at -115.
Here’s our Oregon vs South Carolina preview for this first-round NCAAB matchup in the Midwest.
Ducks vs Gamecocks 
Day/Time:
Location: PPG Paints Arena
Streaming: TNT
Oregon vs South Carolina Preview & Trends
The South Carolina Gamecocks were extremely profitable this season. They went 23-10 against the spread and even 8-3 on the road.
On the other hand, South Carolina hit the Under in just one more game than the Over this season.
Meanwhile, Oregon went 16-18 against the spread despite finishing 23-11 on the season. The Ducks also hit the Over in 20 of 34 games this season. However, they were just 6-5 in road games this season.
Obviously, this game is at a neutral site. However, South Carolina has a better road record, which is still something to consider when looking at the college basketball odds. Some teams can mentally prepare better away from home.
Oregon and South Carolina have never faced off against one another in college basketball.
Jermaine Couisnard’s Game
Jermaine Couisnard averaged 15.4 points per game with the Oregon Ducks this season. He led the team in scoring for qualified NCAAB players and also added 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
However, he spent his first three seasons with South Carolina from 2019-2022. He only transferred out for Oregon in 2022.
When asked about this game and facing off against his old college basketball team, he explained that he still knew a couple of guys there, between the coaches and the trainers. There are only two players on the current South Carolina roster who were teammates with Couisnard.
He acknowledged that he still talks to Jacobi Wright and Josh Gray daily. However, he joked that they won’t get texts back from him before the game.
Lamont Paris’ Big Extension
South Carolina hired head coach Lamont Paris two years ago to be the head coach of the basketball program. At the time, the South Carolina athletic director told the media that Paris was the right coach to lead the program.
Two years later, he was right. Paris helped South Carolina to a 26-7 record in a very tough SEC. He also got them into a 6-seed in the Tournament and won the SEC Coach of the Year for the 26 wins this season.
That tied the most wins for South Carolina since the 2017 team that went to the Final Four.
With all those accomplishments, Paris was given a six-year contract extension worth $26 million to stay in South Carolina.
With so many coaches on the move, the Gamecocks wanted to lock up their guy. South Carolina is in good hands moving forward and heading into the NCAA basketball games today.
Will Oregon Continue Its Winning Streak?
The Oregon Ducks are typically good at limiting turnovers. That shouldn’t change against the Gamecocks. South Carolina has added only 14.9% of turnovers, while Oregon has turned the ball over just 14.8% of the time.
That said, the Ducks aren’t always effective on the offensive glass and still don’t get to the foul line at a high rate.
The Ducks are good inside the arc, shooting 52.7%. But then again, South Carolina has held teams to 46.8% from inside the arc. Oregon doesn’t have many advantages on the offensive end against the Gamecocks’ defense.
On the other hand, South Carolina should get more open looks. Not only do the Gamecocks shoot an effective field goal percentage of 50.8%, but also the Ducks have allowed teams to shoot 34.4% from deep and 51.5% from inside the arc.
South Carolina will take more threes than Oregon. But the Gamecocks are actually more efficient from the two-point range, where they’ve hit 51.1%. That’s still an advantage for South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Oregon has earned more turnovers defensively and is slightly better on the defensive glass. It’s just unlikely that Oregon does better on the glass, with South Carolina earning 33.1% of offensive rebounds.
Finally, South Carolina is also one of the oldest and most experienced teams in the nation. That’s always a big advantage in tournament play, as we rarely see young teams have long-term success in the NCAA Tournament.
The average player on South Carolina is a junior. We also appreciate South Carolina’s guts in playing its players with two fouls. Oregon rarely lets its players play in the first half with two fouls. Meanwhile, 42% of the time, South Carolina lets his guys stay out there with two fouls.
For one, he trusts his guys to know the situation. Secondly, it means he’s keeping the best players on the floor. That allows South Carolina to continue playing at a high level and limits poor runs going the other way.
Keep checking the March Madness scores today!
While Oregon might be a trendy upset pick coming off a Pac-12 Championship, after looking at the Oregon vs South Carolina preview, we will roll with South Carolina at -1.5 (+100). The Gamecocks have the edge.
For college basketball predictions, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
