Southeast Missouri State Redhawks vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

South Carolina is laying 17.5 points on the strength of one home win over Stetson, and Southeast Missouri State arrives 2-0 with a road win at Lipscomb already in hand. The number asks a lot of a Gamecocks team that lost 19 games last season.

The Matchup

Southeast Missouri State visits South Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, on SECN+, with South Carolina a 17.5-point favorite, a total of 145.5, and the Gamecocks priced at -2,400 on the moneyline against the Redhawks at +1,200. Southeast Missouri State is 2-0 out of the Ohio Valley Conference and South Carolina is 1-0 out of the Southeastern Conference, and the gap between the conferences is doing most of the work in this line.

South Carolina's opener was an 81-55 home win over Stetson, clean and professional. Juan Fernandez scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, Davion Hannah added 11 points and 9 rebounds, and the Gamecocks committed only 5 turnovers and pulled down 15 offensive rebounds.

Across the full season last year, though, South Carolina went 13-19, scoring 74.94 points a game and allowing 76.47, giving up more than it scored across a full SEC season. One easy win over Stetson does not repair that profile, and it is that profile, not the logo, that has to cover 17.5 points.

Southeast Missouri State has the better week of evidence. The Redhawks won 86-79 at Lipscomb, a genuine road win over a real opponent, shooting 11-of-20 from three as a team and blocking 6 shots, then beat Webster 90-65 at home. The scoring is spread everywhere: PJ Farmer scored 13 points at Lipscomb, Drew Cooper added 14, and Marqueas Bell went for 16 points and 10 rebounds against Webster.

Across the full season last year the Redhawks went 20-13, scoring 74.55 points a game and allowing 70.64, a winning team that defended better than it scored. This is not a buy-game visitor hoping to keep it respectable. It is a good mid-major that has already won in somebody else's gym.

Key Factors

Balance is the visitor's protection against a blowout. South Carolina cannot load up on one Redhawk, because Southeast Missouri State got double figures from five different players at Lipscomb and its bench produced in both games.

Favorites cover numbers this size by breaking one creator and watching the offense die; there is no single throat to grab here. The Redhawks also shoot the three well enough, 11 makes at Lipscomb on 20 attempts, to answer runs before they become avalanches, which is the specific skill a 17.5-point underdog needs most.

The glass and the ball both matter in Columbia. South Carolina's 15 offensive rebounds against Stetson are the favorite's clearest path to margin, because second chances against a smaller frontcourt turn a 10-point game into a 20-point game without the favorite ever shooting well.

Southeast Missouri State countered that at Lipscomb with 38 rebounds and 12 on the offensive end, competing on the boards rather than conceding them. Fernandez is the Gamecocks' best player and his efficiency inside is real, but the Redhawks blocked 6 shots in each of their two games, and rim protection travels.

The counterpoint is the step up in class, and it is not nothing. Lipscomb and Webster are not an SEC roster, even a flawed one, and South Carolina's size at every position will test a visitor that has not guarded this kind of athlete yet.

Fernandez shot 9-of-13 in the opener and the Gamecocks barely turned the ball over, which is the profile of a team that can grind a lead upward all afternoon. If the Redhawks' threes stop falling on the road and the offensive rebounds pile up, this becomes the comfortable home win the price expects, and the underdog's good week ends as a footnote.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.