Gamecocks On The Road At Missouri Saturday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (14-14, 9-6 SEC) travels to face Missouri (12-15, 3-12 SEC) on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.  The Gamecocks posted a 10-point win over the Tigers in the first meeting between the two schools this season at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 13.  Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) will have the call for the 3:30 p.m. ET SEC Network broadcast.

STARTING FIVE
> South Carolina will play its next two on the road, starting Saturday at Missouri.  It will be the second meeting between the Gamecocks and Tigers this season, as Carolina posted an 85-75 win over Mizzou at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 13.
> The Gamecocks will be without rookie guard A.J. Lawson on Saturday.  He suffered a severe low left ankle sprain during the second half of Tuesday’s contest versus Alabama. Lawson is listed as out indefinitely, and will miss at least the next two games. Lawson will be re-evaluated on Monday.  The SEC Freshman of the Year candidate is averaging 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and a team high 3.0 assists per game with 18 double-figure scoring games this season. In league games, he is scoring 14.0 points, and dishing out 2.6 assists per outing.
> Senior forward Chris Silva posted his ninth double-double of the season with team highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds on Tuesday vs. Alabama.  The SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year candidate paces Carolina in both categories in league play – 15.7 points/7.7 rebounds – and his 2.4 blocks per SEC game rank second among conference leaders.
> South Carolina leads the SEC in 3-point field goal percent at 40.9 through the first 15 games of league play.  Four active Gamecocks average at least 43 percent from beyond the arc in league games in Silva (42.9%), Gravett (43.6%), Haase (43.9%) and Campbell (48.4%).
> South Carolina has been riddled by injuries this season, having had five players miss significant time.  Sophomore starter Justin Minaya has missed 23 games due to a knee injury, rookie guard T.J. Moss – who started the previous three games before suffering an ankle and foot injury – has missed 21 games due to injury, junior forward Maik Kotsar missed two crucial non-conference games – Virginia and Clemson – due to a concussion, and reserves Jason Cudd (13 games) and Alanzo Frink (7 games) have also missed games on the injuried list.  

POWELL NAMED SEC LEGEND
> Former South Carolina standout Carlos Powell has been named Carolina’s 2019 SEC Legend.  It was announced by the conference office on Friday, Feb. 15.  Powell earned four letters in the Garnet and Black and ranks eighth all-time in scoring with 1,541 career points.  He was part of Carolina’s 2004 NCAA Tournament team, and helped the Gamecocks capture the 2005 Postseason NIT championship.  His senior season he averaged 53.0 percent from the field, scoring 540 points and averaging 16.4 points per game.  He led the Gamecocks in scoring as a sophomore, junior and senior, while also leading the team in rebounds per game his final two campaigns.  Following his career at Carolina, Powell has had a successful professional career on the hardwood.  

THROUGH 28 GAMES…
> The Gamecocks are 14-14 overall this season, with a 10-6 mark at home, a 3-7 record on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site matchups.
> Rookie guard A.J. Lawson (48-133), senior guard Hassani Gravett (55-135) and graduate student guard Tre Campbell (44-112) have combined to hit 147 of Carolina’s 211 3-pointers this season, connecting on 38.6 percent of their attempts.
> Five different Gamecocks have registered at least 30 assists on the season, led by Lawson’s 83 (3.0 per game).
> Senior guard Hassani Gravett has 17 games this season with multiple made 3-point baskets, including hitting four in three consecutive games recently (at Tennessee/Texas A&M/Ole Miss).
> The Gamecocks are 7-2 when having 15 or more assists.
> Carolina is 11-7 when making six or more 3-point baskets.
> Senior forward Chris Silva has a team high 60 blocks, which already surpasses his career high for a season (51 in 37 games in 2016-17).
> The Gamecocks are 11-3 when outrebounding their opponent, including a 7-0 mark when outrebounding opponents in SEC play.
> Carolina is 9-3 this season when leading at the half.

FRANK MARTIN
> South Carolina head coach Frank Martin is in his seventh season leading the Gamecocks and 12th season overall as a head coach in 2018-19.  Martin, the 2017 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year (CollegeInsider.com), led South Carolina to its first Final Four and a school record 26 wins in 2016-17.  In his 11 complete seasons as a head coach, Martin has led his teams to at least 21 wins seven times.  Martin is a native of Miami, Fla., and a graduate of FIU.
> Prior to his time on the sidelines in the college ranks, Martin spent 15 years in high school coaching in Miami, Fla., including the last seven as a head coach. He was part of five state championships as an assistant at Miami Senior High School (1985-93), before earning two titles as the program’s head coach (1995-98). Highlighting Martin’s stint as the head coach of the program were consecutive 30-win seasons and consecutive Florida 6A State Championships in 1996 and 1997, with his 1997 squad earning a 36-1 overall record and ranking No. 4 in the USA Today Top 25 Poll. He also served as the head coach at North Miami Senior High School (1993-95) and one season at Booker T. Washington High School (1999-2000).
> Among active Division I head coaches, South Carolina’s Frank Martin holds the seventh-highest (tied with Michigan’s John Beilein) NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.667) behind only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Kansas’ Bill Self, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Villanova’s Jay Wright.
> Martin led team’s are 104-101 (.507) all-time in league play.

QUICK HITS
> South Carolina is in its 111th season of varsity basketball in 2018-19.
> Gamecock head coach Frank Martin is joined on the sidelines by assistant coaches Perry Clark (6th season), Bruce Shingler (3rd season) and Chuck Martin (2nd season).  Andy Assaley is in his seventh season as the director of operations.
> South Carolina is one of 13 DI schools nationally that have two or more former DI coaches serving as an assistant coach.  Perry Clark served as the head coach at Tulane, Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, while Chuck Martin was the head coach at Marist for five campaigns.
> South Carolina advanced to its first Final Four in 2016-17, which included posting its first NCAA Tounament win since the 1973 campaign when it talied a 93-73 win over Marquette in the First Round.
> The Gamecocks are 24-14 (.631) in neutral-site contests under the direction of head coach Frank Martin, including a 3-3 mark last season.
> Carolina was 15-18 (.454) over the course of the last three seasons in away contests (2015-16, 16-17, 17-18).
> Martin is 31-43 (.418) against ranked opponents as a head coach. His teams have four wins over opponents ranked in the top five, and two wins over opponents who are ranked No. 1.
> Senior forward Chris Silva was named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team by both the media and coaches; and also named to the Karl Malone Award Watch List, the Naismith Trophy Watch List and the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List.  He was also named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
> Carolina is 14-14 overall this season, including a 3-7 mark in away games.  The Gamecocks look to snap a three-game SEC road losing streak (last road win at Georgia on Feb. 2).
> Due to injuries, Carolina will have just nine players available for at least the next two contests.
> Senior forward Chris Silva has led or shared the team lead in scoring 10 times, in rebounding 13, blocks 21 and he has a team high 19 double-figure scoring games this season.  Over his last five games, he is averaging 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game.
> According to KenPom.com’s Efficiency and Tempo data, South Carolina has played at the fastest offensive pace in the SEC this season, with an average possession length of 15.6 seconds (19th in the nation).  That is faster than the noted up-tempo offenses of Arkansas and Auburn. It is the fastest pace that a Frank Martin-coached team has ever played at South Carolina.
> In the most recent NCAA rankings, Carolina’s DI strength of schedule is 18, and the Gamecocks have a combined seven Quadrant 1 and 2 wins this season.
> Rookie guard A.J. Lawson is fourth among freshmen in the SEC in scoring (overall games) at 13.9 points per game this season.
> Silva’s 2.14 blocked shots per game (overall games), rank third in the SEC and 28th nationally.  In SEC play, he is blocking 2.40 shots per game.
> Entering SEC play, Carolina ranked 300th nationally (NCAA stats games through Jan. 2) in 3-point field goal percent, averaging just 30.8 percent from beyond the arc.  In the most recent NCAA stats (games through Feb. 28), Carolina is 96th nationally at 36.1 percent.
> South Carolina returns seven letterwinners from last season’s 17-16 squad, including senior guard Hassani Gravett and senior forward Chris Silva.
> Carolina welcomes nine newcomers to its roster this season, including transfers and six freshmen student-athletes.  Jair Bolden (transfer/George Washington/guard), redshirt-junior Raymond “Quad” Borup (r-junior/forward), graduate transfer Tre Campbell (transfer/Georgetown/guard), Keyshawn Bryant (freshman/guard), Jermaine Couisnard (freshman/guard), Alanzo Frink (freshman/forward), A.J. Lawson (freshman/guard), T.J. Moss (freshman/guard) and Nathan Nelson (freshman/forward).

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
> Missouri is 12-15 overall this season and 3-12 in SEC action.  
> Mizzou is led by head coach Cuonzo Martin in his second season.  Martin also previously coached at Tennessee.
> The Tigers have lost four straight games, and have not played at home since a Feb. 19 loss to Kentucky.
> Missouri has also been struck by the injury bug, losing sophomore forward Jontay Porter prior to the season, and recently announcing that sophomore guard Mark Smith will miss the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury.  Smith was the team’s second leading scorer at 11.4 points per game.
> Missouri is 8-6 at home, and 2-5 at home in SEC play.
> Jordan Geist, who scored 14 points with five assists in the January matchup against Carolina, paces the team at 13.9 points (overall games), and 3.0 assists per game.
> Jeremiah Tilmon is also in double figures at 10.6 points per game and his 5.7 rebounds per contest are a team high.

COMING UP NEXT
> The Gamecocks have a quick turnaround, heading to Texas A&M for a Tuesday night matchup against the Aggies in College Station.  Tip time for the contest is set for 7 p.m. ET, with Tom Hart and Jon Sundvold on the call for the SEC Network.