Auburn vs South Carolina 3/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Auburn Tigers meet in college basketball action from the Auburn Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will look to build on their 73-69 win over Missouri last time out. Jermaine Couisnard has a team-high 11.8 PPG and 3.1 APG while Erik Stevenson has 11.4 PPG with 4.6 RPG and James Reese V has 10.5 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for the Gamecocks this season. Devin Carter has 9.3 PPG and Keyshawn Bryant has 8.8 PPG while Wilden Leveque has a team-high 4.9 RPG as well this season. As a team, South Carolina is averaging 71.7 PPG on 43% shooting from the field, 31.8% from three and 67.4% from the foul line while allowing 69.8 PPG on 41.3% shooting from the field and 31.6% from three this season.

The Auburn Tigers will try to build on an 81-68 OT win over Mississippi State in their last game. Jabari Smith leads the Tigers in scoring with 16.9 PPG along with 6.9 RPG while K.D. Johnson has 12.6 PPG and Wendell Green Jr. has 12.1 PPG with a team-high 5 APG to lead the Tigers in assists. Walker Kessler also has 11.6 PPG and a team-high 8.2 RPG to lead the Tigers on the glass and to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Auburn so far this season. As a team, Auburn is averaging 79.2 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field, 32% from three and 73.5% from the foul line while allowing 66.9 PPG on 38.3% shooting from the field and 30.7% from three this season.

South Carolina is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 roa games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600 while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 road games. Auburn is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 home games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games voearll while the over is 17-7 in their last 24 games following an ATS win.

I get the allure of backing Auburn at home, but the reality is that the Tigers have been winning games but not covering these bigger numbers as of late, as they let Ole Miss and Vanderbilt sneak in the backdoor. South Carolina’s picked up some quality wins as of late, and a win over Auburn would do wonders for their resume and potentially help crack the field of 68. I’ll take my chances with South Carolina and the points here.