(Photo credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images)

South Carolina knows its postseason hopes will ultimately come down to how the team performs in Southeastern Conference play, which begins Saturday with a home showdown against No. 11 Vanderbilt.

But before the Gamecocks (8-4) can test themselves against the SEC gauntlet, they have one more opportunity to fine-tune themselves when they face Albany (4-10) on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C.

After failing to pick up any quality wins in nonconference play following a 68-61 road defeat against Clemson, South Carolina bounced back nicely Dec. 22 with a 95-70 win against South Carolina State.

Though it was against an inferior opponent, the Gamecocks showed improvement on both sides of the ball. South Carolina had five players score in double figures, shot 59.1% from the floor and held the Bulldogs to 41.9%.

'I thought it was a good effort by our guys,' Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris said following the win. '... I thought they did a really good job of being locked into what they were trying to get done (that day).'

Getting Myles Stute (season-high 15 points) going offensively was a welcome sight for the Gamecocks. Stute has struggled to shoot the ball from the perimeter this season (27.9%) and was 2-for-13 from long distance in his previous four games before knocking down 3 of 5 threes in the win against South Carolina State.

South Carolina has shot poorly from 3-point range, which is something it'll have to correct in order to have success in SEC play. After going 6-for-21 from long distance against the Bulldogs, the Gamecocks are shooting 29.9% from 3-point range as a team, 329th in Division I and better than only Boston College and Florida among major-conference teams.

As for Albany, the Great Danes have really struggled so far this season, picking up just one win against a Division I opponent, a 71-55 win over Stony Brook on Dec. 17. They followed that win, however, with an 83-75 defeat against Cornell last time out on Dec. 21.

Offensively, Albany is led by guard Amir Lindsey who comes in averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. Lindsey is a 37.7% 3-point shooter.

This will be Albany's last nonconference game before starting American East Conference play on the road against UMass-Lowell Saturday.

--Field Level Media