Friday SEC Tournament Betting: Is South Carolina Getting Too Many Points vs. Auburn?
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Frank Martin
The SEC Conference Tournament is one of the most competitive and exciting in the country.
The top four teams advanced straight to the quarterfinals, so today we look at a South Carolina team that surprisingly earned a bye agains an Auburn team coming off a convincing second-round win.
Let’s take a deep dive on Auburn-South Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET) in the SEC quarterfinals.
Betting Odds: Auburn Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
- Spread: Auburn -8
- Over/Under: 147
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
Auburn (23-9) is coming off an 81-71 win over Missouri in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers covered by a half point, but have been very average against the spread. Auburn is 14-12-2 ATS including just 5-8-1 on the road.
South Carolina (16-15) enjoyed a surprisingly successful season, earning the No. 4 seed in the tournament at 11-7 in conference play. The Gamecocks are 14-13 ATS this season but 5-0 ATS in the last five games against Auburn.
These two teams met on Jan. 22, and South Carolina won 80-77. The Gamecocks used their SEC-best 3-point defense to hold the Tigers to 28% (7 of 25) from beyond the arc. That is an essential skill, since Auburn produces a conference-best 45.2% of their points from 3P range. This held true in Auburn’s opening win against Missouri, making 12 three-pointers against the Tigers.