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Gamecocks Move Up to No. 18 in Both Polls
Men's Basketball  . 

Gamecocks Move Up to No. 18 in Both Polls

South Carolina Athletics

South Carolina has now been ranked in the top-25 of both polls four-straight weeks

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (22-5 overall, 10-4 SEC) moved up two spots to No. 18 in both the AP Top-25 Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll on Monday. This mark’s the fourth-straight week the team has been ranked in the top-25 of both major polls.

The Gamecocks picked up a big road win at Saturday at Ole Miss, 72-59, limiting the Rebels to just 33.1 percent shooting. In the last two seasons under head coach Lamont Paris, the team is 9-0 when limiting opponents to 60 points or less.

Saturday’s victory marked the team’s fifth SEC road win and its 10th league win this season. The five road wins are tied with the 2016-17 team for the second most SEC wins away from home in a single season. The 1996-97 team won seven games away from home en route to the program’s first and only SEC Championship. The 10 SEC wins mark the eighth time the program has had double-digit league wins since joining the conference in 1991-92.

The Gamecocks won seven-straight SEC games in a stretch from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10, the team’s longest win streak in SEC play since starting the conference slate 11-0 during the 1996-97 season.

The win streak featured a pair of top-10 wins over then No. 6/6 Kentucky (Jan. 23) and No. 5/5 Tennessee (Jan. 30). The victories came in a three-game stretch, marking the first time the program recorded top-10 wins in a three-game span since 1968, per Elias Sports Bureau. The Gamecocks 63-59 win in Knoxville was just the fourth true road win this season over a top-five opponent (Arizona, James Madison and Clemson also on the list). It was the first top-five road win by the Gamecocks since defeating No. 3 Kentucky on March 2, 1997 at Rupp Arena.

This year’s squad recorded just the third 21-3 or better start in program history (2015-16, 1969-70 the others).

Carolina is 9-3 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games this season and has five wins against teams currently ranked in the top-60 of the NET Rankings (No. 5 Tennessee, No. 19 Kentucky, No. 28 Mississippi State, No. 56 Virginia Tech and No. 59 Grand Canyon).

The Gamecocks hit the road again on Wednesday to face Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC). Tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET) on the SEC Network with Clay Matvick (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call.

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