Basketball Game Preview: North Charleston Cougars vs. Orangeburg-Wilkinson Bruins

The North Charleston Cougars and the Orangeburg-Wilkinson Bruins will face off at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday without much rest having both just played. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, North Charleston strolled past Hanahan with points to spare, taking the game 53-37. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 65th, while the Hawks are ranked 236th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Orangeburg-Wilkinson's strategy against Battery Creek on Tuesday. Everything went Orangeburg-Wilkinson's way against Battery Creek as Orangeburg-Wilkinson made off with a 65-40 victory. The Bruins have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 21 points or more this season.

North Charleston better keep an eye on Jordan McGahee. He was instrumental in Orangeburg-Wilkinson's win, dropping a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds. Those 11 boards gave McGahee a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Keith Smith, who posted 11 points.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

North Charleston's win was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.9 points per game. As for Orangeburg-Wilkinson, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season.

North Charleston was able to grind out a solid victory over Orangeburg-Wilkinson when the teams last played back in February of 2024, winning 56-45. Will North Charleston repeat their success, or does Orangeburg-Wilkinson have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.