Jan. 30, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

• Records: South Carolina improves to 13-8 overall, 4-3 in SEC play. Georgia falls to 9-10 overall, 1-5 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are 10-2 in games played at Colonial Life Arena this season. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series with Georgia 47-46 and hold a 29-15 edge in games played in Columbia. South Carolina has won three in a row in the series and four out of the last five.
• Head Coach Darrin Horn: Improves to 145-66 in his seventh year as a collegiate head coach, 34-18 in his second year at South Carolina. He is now 5-1 against Georgia, including a 3-0 mark as South Carolina’s head coach.
• Coaches vs. Cancer: South Carolina’s coaching staff wore polo shirts and both coaching staffs wore sneakers tonight in support of the nationwide Coaches vs. Cancer initiative.
• Shooting the Lights Out: South Carolina had its highest field goal percentage in SEC play this season at 51.8% and it was the highest three-point percentage for the Gamecocks all season at 52.9%.
• More Trends: Of the four times this season that the nation’s No. 1 team has been beaten, the squad that pulled the upset has won its next game twice (including tonight); both squads were from the SEC. The only team to win its next game after knocking off the nation’s top-ranked squad was Tennessee who, after beating then-No. 1 Kansas on Jan. 10, won its next three games against Auburn, Ole Miss and Alabama. After Kansas State beat then-No. 1 Texas on Jan. 18, the Wildcats fell to Oklahoma State later in the week. The same Texas squad, still ranked No. 1, fell at Connecticut on Jan. 23; the Huskies lost their next game at Providence on Jan. 27.
• Devan Downey: Another night, another 30-point game from Devan Downey. The senior had 33 in tonight’s game, his third straight contest with 30 or more and his fifth time in seven SEC games to reach that plateau. He is averaging 31.6 points in SEC play and 22.9 overall for the season.
• Another Record for Downey: With tonight’s output, Downey now has six career 30-point games in SEC play, which equals the total combined number of 30-point games by Gamecock players since joining the SEC prior to the 1991-92 season. Tre Kelley and BJ McKie had two each while Larry Davis and Carlos Powell had one apiece.
• Finally – A Double-Double for Muldrow: After multiple near-misses, including Tuesday’s 9-point, 11-rebound effort against Kentucky, Sam Muldrow earned that elusive first career double-double tonight with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance. It’s the fourth career double-digit rebound game for Muldrow and the 14th career game in which he has topped the 10-point mark.
• Muldrow Likes the `Dawgs: In Sam Muldrow’s last two games against Georgia in Columbia, he has put together two of his best career performances. Last season, he set his career high with 18 points in the Gamecocks’ 79-68 win in Columbia. Tonight, he bested that mark with a 19-point effort and his first career double-double. He also added four blocks to go along with a career high in field goal attempts (16) and tied a career-best with five made free throws.
• Quick Hits:

• Lakeem Jackson had a season-high five assists to go with six points and five rebounds.
• South Carolina is 10-4 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
• The Gamecocks are 5-6 this season when trailing at the half, including a 3-2 mark in SEC play.
• Stephen Spinella hit both of his three-point attempts tonight, a season high in three-pointers made. He also got his first career block late in the first half.