Stetson Hatters vs South Carolina Gamecocks prediction: Stetson's second road night tests South Carolina's brand-new roster

A road swing's second night

Stetson opens with back-to-back power-conference road games, and the second tips less than a day after the first. On Monday the Hatters lost 85-72 at Clemson, a team ranked 38th in adjusted net efficiency (points per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponents) in last season's final ratings.

The two halves told different stories. Stetson trailed 24-49 at the break, then played its best basketball after halftime and turned a rout into a respectable final score. Tonight the Hatters bring tired legs into an arena where South Carolina opens its season. If the Gamecocks build an early cushion, Stetson will need another second-half rally to stay close.

South Carolina starts from scratch

Lamont Paris enters his fifth season with almost an entirely new team. Players on this roster accounted for just 10.3% of last season's minutes, and 12 of the 15 players are newcomers. That makes last season's numbers a weak guide. South Carolina was picked last in the SEC media poll for the second straight year, according to one preseason report, though another has the Gamecocks 16th.

The new core comes from the transfer portal. Kory Mincy, projected to start at point guard, scored 14.3 points per game at George Mason last season. Shane Blakeney averaged 14.2 at Drexel. Camden Heide shot 45.4% from three at Texas. Juan Fernández is expected to be a major offensive piece, and four-star freshman Marcus Johnson joins them.

Availability is mostly settled. Blakeney missed one exhibition with an ankle injury but played against Campbell and is expected to be ready. Bieliauskas left that Campbell exhibition with a lower-leg strain; Paris said it did not look long-term, and he is expected to be available. Sophomore guard Grant Polk was ruled out for about six weeks with a lower-leg injury in late October. Mathias Alessanco, recovering from a torn ACL suffered in May, is out for the start of the season.

Kuhl carries the Hatters

Stetson runs through Collin Kuhl, the preseason ASUN player of the year. At Clemson he scored 20 points in 21 minutes and used 40% of Stetson's possessions while on the floor. Kent State transfer Magnus Entenmann added 16.

The Hatters scored well inside and badly outside. They made 63.9% of their twos but just 25.0% of their threes. Stetson has lost the shooter who made that outside game work: Ethan Copeland, who shot 42.9% from three last season, is now at Virginia Tech. Without him, the offense leans on Kuhl inside, and South Carolina's new frontcourt gets its first look at him.

The foul line could widen it

Clemson lived at the stripe on Monday. Stetson's opponent free throw rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt) was 71.4, which ranks 300th of 303 teams with a game played. The Hatters rarely got there themselves.

That matters against a South Carolina backcourt built around Mincy, who made 88.7% of his free throws at George Mason last season. If Stetson keeps fouling, the Gamecocks get free points late, and a lead built that way is hard to erase.

What the number says

South Carolina is a 16.5-point favorite, and the total sits at 149.5. Neither number has moved since our feed first recorded them this morning. Stetson covered as a 22.5-point underdog at Clemson, and that game went over a 144.5 total.

The Gamecocks won the last meeting 82-51 in December 2025, but almost none of that South Carolina team is still on the roster. The market is pricing a debut it hasn't seen, against an opponent playing on short rest.