Vanderbilt Commodores vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Vanderbilt Commodores vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC

TV: ESPNU

Colonial Life Arena is the location where the South Carolina Gamecocks (9-4) will attempt to defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores (13-0) on Saturday.

The Vanderbilt Commodores stepped onto the hardwood against New Haven and walked away with a win by a score of 96-53 in their last contest. Vanderbilt ended with a 57.8% FG percentage (37 out of 64) and made 11 out of their 24 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Commodores buried 11 of 12 attempts for a percentage of 91.7%. When discussing grabbing boards, they earned 38 with 11 of them being offensive. They also recorded 24 dimes for the contest while forcing the opposition into 12 turnovers and earning 10 steals. In terms of defense, Vanderbilt allowed the other team to shoot 39.7% from the field on 23 of 58 shooting. New Haven distributed 10 dimes and had 4 steals in this game. In addition, New Haven collected 20 rebounds (4 offensive, 16 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. New Haven shot 71.4% from the free throw line by knocking down 5 of their 7 tries. They also knocked down 2 out of their 15 attempts from beyond the arc. When discussing personal fouls, the Commodores walked away with 7 and New Haven finished the game with 9 personal fouls.

Tyler Tanner is someone who played a role in this contest. He notched 23 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 27 minutes and snagged 5 rebounds. He finished the contest at 56.3% from the floor and earned 7 dimes.

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Vanderbilt comes into this matchup with a mark of 13-0 for the season. They turn it over 10.6 times per game and as a squad are committing 19.8 fouls per contest. As a unit, Vanderbilt is pulling in 39.3 boards per contest and has earned 259 assists on the year, which has them ranked 18th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Commodores are shooting 37.6% from downtown (144 of 383) and 76.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 94.2 pts per game (10th in the country) while shooting 51.2% from the floor.

Defensively, the Commodores are able to force 14.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.9 personal fouls. They relinquish 28.2% on 3-point shots and they rank 120th in college in opponents PPG (70.7). The Commodores defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 39.0% (293 of 751) and they concede 32.2 boards per contest as a team. They currently rank 20th in the country in allowing assists to their opponents with 132 surrendered this year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the South Carolina Gamecocks went home victorious with a score of 96-67 when they played Albany. The Gamecocks were able to snag 18 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards for a total of 26 for this contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while earning 8 steals for the matchup. Albany was called for 13 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Gamecocks to the free throw line for 17 tries. They were able to make 16 of those for a rate of 94.1%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, South Carolina converted 14 of their 30 attempts (46.7%). Overall, the Gamecocks shot 33 for 55 from the field which had them sitting at 60.0%. The Gamecocks allowed Albany to knock down 27 of 62 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 43.5% in this matchup. They went 35.3% from 3-point land by hitting 6 of 17 and ended up shooting 7 out of 8 at the charity stripe (87.5%). When talking about how they attacked the glass, South Carolina allowed Albany to get 25 in total (13 on the offensive side).

Meechie Johnson Jr. ended up being a major contributor for the Gamecocks in this contest. He converted 5 out of 8 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 62.5%, and tallied 3 rebounds. He accumulated 15 points in his 26 mins of playing time and totaled 4 dimes in this matchup.

South Carolina has a record of 9-4 for the year. The Gamecocks commit 17.4 personal fouls every game and they connect on 79.5% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 15.3 times per game (138th in college) and they are turning it over 10.3 times per game. South Carolina has scored 1,053 points so far this year (81.0 per contest) and they collect 35.2 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Gamecocks are connecting on 47.0% from the field, which ranks 115th in college.

The Gamecocks on defense are ranked 72nd in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 68.2. They are able to force 10.3 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.3% from the field (126th in college). The South Carolina defense gives up 28.9% on shots from beyond the arc (67 of 232) and their opponents are converting on 65.1% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 12.8 assists and 32.6 total boards per game, which is 143rd and 86th in those defensive categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Vanderbilt

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