Tennessee men's basketball will face yet another test as the Vols take their eight-game win streak on the road to South Carolina tonight.

Against Ole Miss on Wednesday night, the eighth-ranked Vols (13-1, 1-0 SEC) proved their frontcourt could hold up to the challenge en route to an 85-83 victory over the previously unbeaten Rebels.

In tonight's 8 o'clock tip in South Carolina's Colonial Center, it's the UT backcourt that will be on the spot.

The Gamecocks (8-7, 0-1) are known for strong guard play and have proved just that against the perimeter-oriented Vols over the past few years.

South Carolina eliminated the Vols from the 2006 SEC tournament, 79-61, and dealt UT an 81-64 defeat last year in Columbia.

"It seems like South Carolina's guards are always good, and they always come ready to play against us,'' UT All-American Chris Lofton said. "We got killed there last year. It was a bad game from the jump; they hit like their first five shots, and that was it.''

The Gamecocks feature two prominent transfers in guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick.

Downey, who transferred to South Carolina from Cincinnati, leads the Gamecocks with 18.8 points and 5.5 assists per game. Fredrick, from Georgia Tech, is scoring 16.3 and dishing out 3.6 assists per game.

While the Vols rank second in the nation with 21.4 forced turnovers per game - a big key to their high-flying transition game - UT coach Bruce Pearl will need to have his half-court offense prepared.

South Carolina averages just 10.9 turnovers per game and doesn't figure to give UT many easy baskets in transition.

"It's a place (South Carolina) where we have struggled,'' said Pearl, noting the Vols are just 1-4 in the Colonial Center. "They do a good job of matching up with us.

"We need to get some orange in the arena at South Carolina. We need Tennessee people to travel.''

Pearl also needs his guards to tighten up on the perimeter; the Gamecocks are shooting 41.1 percent from 3-point range.

South Carolina's Brandis Raley-Ross, the SEC's leading 3-point shooter (65.2 percent), played at Vanderbilt on Wednesday after taking two weeks off to recover from a sprained knee.

The undefeated Commodores scored an 80-73 victory over the Gamecocks in Nashville, but it was a tightly contested game throughout.

Lofton said he expects the same sort of inspired play from South Carolina tonight.

"I think with us being ranked high, we've got a big target on our backs,'' Lofton said. "It seems like teams are making shots and plays against us that they don't normally make.

"Losing to them last year like we did adds motivation.''

UT center Wayne Chism agreed.

"Yeah, losing last year (at South Carolina) adds a lot of motivation, because we got our tails whipped,'' Chism said. "We're going to have to keep our heads and maintain our poise.''

Junior forward Ryan Childress said UT is operating with a different mindset than in past years.

"We used to be the ones hunting, and now we've got the target on us,'' Childress said. "We have to look at it that we're trying to separate ourselves from the pack for March, whereas before, we were just trying to get into the tournament.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.