Gamecocks Travel to Clemson for Annual Palmetto Series Matchup

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (7-3) heads to The Upstate for the annual SC Education Lottery Palmetto Series matchup with in-state rival Clemson (8-3) on Tuesday night. The Gamecocks will be playing their first and only true road matchup of the non-conference slate against the Tigers.

Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 with Roy Philpott (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) on the call for the nationally televised broadcast.

All three rivalry games so far in the Lamont Paris era between the two programs have been decided by five points or less, with Carolina winning both games at Colonial Life Arena over the last three seasons.

The Gamecocks are seeking the team’s first win at Littlejohn Coliseum since a 67-54 victory on Dec. 15, 2019. AJ Lawson led a trio of Carolina players in double-figures with 20 points in addition to six rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Gamecock defense held the Tigers to just 28.0% (14-of-50) shooting on their home floor.

There has been 174 all-time meetings between the two in-state rivals with Carolina leading the all-time series, 93-81. The Gamecocks have faced no other school more in the team’s 118 seasons of basketball.

Clemson is fresh off a 70-63 home victory over Mercer on Saturday. The Tigers trailed by six at the break but outscored the Bears 37-24 over the final 20 minutes in what was head coach Brad Brownell’s 300^th all-time victory at the school. Dillon Hunter led four Clemson players in double-figures with 15 points. The Tigers are 6-0 on their home floor this season with two of their three losses coming to a pair of top-25 teams at No. 16/16 Alabama (Dec. 3) and versus No. 10/10 BYU (Dec. 9) at Madison Square Garden. They won the Palmetto bracket of the Charleston Classic back on Nov. 23, defeating Georgia, 97-94, in overtime in the championship game.

Georgia transfer RJ Godfrey is the team’s leading scorer (11.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.5 rpg). Middle Tennessee State transfer Jestin Porter also averages double-figures (10.8 ppg). Utah Valley transfer Carter Welling averages 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Hunter averages 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He’s played in 110 games with 24 starts over the last four seasons for Clemson.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Littlejohn Coliseum
TV: ESPN2
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Roy Philpott
    ANALYST: Mark Wise
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 106 or 190 | SXM APP: 960
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: 93-81, Gamecocks lead
AT CLEMSON: 49-33, Gamecocks lead
SERIES TREND: Gamecocks are 2-1 since Lamont Paris’ arrival in the 2022-23 season, winning both rivalry matchups at home.
LAST MEETING: 91-88 Gamecock victory in overtime at Colonial Life Arena on Dec. 17, 2024. Collin Murray-Boyles had 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Myles Stute hit five 3s, scoring 19 points.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
13-1 – The Gamecocks have a 13-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
17-1 – The Gamecocks are 17-1 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
45-9 – The Gamecocks are 45-9 in 4 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.833 win %).
28-3 – Carolina is 28-3 under Paris last season when holding its opponents below 40% shooting from the floor. The team was 7-0 last season and is 4-0 this season when accomplishing the defensive feat.
6-0  – The Gamecocks are 6-0 all-time under Paris when the team shoots 50.0 percent or higher from behind the arc.
7-0 – The team is also 7-0 all-time under Paris when dishing out 20 or more assists.  Five of those seven games came in the historic 2023-24 season with a high of 25 helpers in the win at Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024. Carolina dished out 24 assists on 31 made field goals in the 91-72, season-opening win against NC A&T (Nov. 4).
10-0 – The Gamecocks are 10-0 (2-0 this season) under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs. Carolina made 34 field goals (team high in the Paris era), shooting 57.6% (another team high in the Paris era) in an 87-58 victory over Radford on Nov. 18.
448 – Johnson (204) and Stute (244) have combined to make 448 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 244 career 3s are T-17th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 204 3s rank T-40th. The Gamecocks are one of seven teams in NCAA Division I to have multiple players with 200+ career made 3s (Alabama, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, San Diego & West Virginia the others).
481 – Stute (139), Johnson (126), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (109) and Kobe Knox (107) have combined to play 481 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (T-5th) and Johnson (T-24th) both rank inside the top-25 on the active games played list in Division I.
1,000 – Stute scored his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer early in the game vs. Radford (Nov. 18).
48 – Johnson scored his 1,000th career point with his final bucket in a recent victory over The Citadel (Dec. 13). He became the 48th Gamecock to join the 1,000-career point club (first since former All-SEC guard AJ Lawson from 2018-21).
25 – Johnson became the 25th different player for South Carolina since the 2004-05 season to record a 30-point game when he had a career-high 33 points vs. Southern Miss on Nov. 9. Johnson, Brenton Williams (2014) and Devan Downey (2009) are the only Gamecocks to have a 30-point game with seven or more made 3s.
43 – Johnson became the 43rd player in the SEC to hit seven or more 3s in a game over the last five seasons. Stute is also on that list, making seven 3s twice while at Vanderbilt in games at Temple (11/15/22) and at Texas A&M (1/28/23).
90 – Carolina has hit 90 3s (9.0 3FG per game) in the first ten games of the season with a combined 53  different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the 10 ball games (average of 5.3 different players hitting a 3FG per game).
30 – The Gamecocks’ 31-point win over Stetson (Dec. 6) was the team’s first victory by 30 or more points since defeating Florida A&M, 94-62, on Dec. 30, 2023 in the non-conference finale.
28.8% – The Carolina defense held Arkansas to just 28.8% (15-of-52) from the field in a 72-53 win on March 1 last season, the lowest opponent FG-percentage in the Lamont Paris era at SC. The Gamecocks held Arkansas to just 14 points in the 1st half. With the win, Paris improved to 3-0 at Carolina against John Calipari, the winningest coach in men’s college basketball.
34 – The team made 34 free throws in an 84-69 win over Texas on Feb. 22 last season, the most in the Lamont Paris era at Carolina. The last time the Gamecocks hit 30 or more free throws in a game was 35 made foul shots in the four OT thriller against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017.
10 – Paris has been a part of 10 NCAA Tournament teams as a Division I assistant/head coach with his first appearance at South Carolina coming last season.
18 – He has been a part of 18, 20-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach.
.696 – In his 17 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, teams associated with Paris were 497-217 (.696) with five conference titles and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching two Final Fours.
274 – The Gamecocks made 274 3s during the 2023-24 campaign, a new single-season program record.
344 – The team had just 344 turnovers in the 2023-24 season, the third-fewest all-time for a single season at Carolina.
8-3 – The Gamecocks were 8-3 in true road games during the 2023-24 season. The team won seven SEC games on the road, tying the 1996-97 SEC Champion squad for the most league road wins in program history since joining the SEC in 1991-92.
25 – Carolina held 25 opponents to less than 70 points in 2023-24, which T-4th nationally and led the SEC.
8-0 – The Gamecocks were 8-0 in 2023-24 when shooting 50.0% or better from the floor.
1998 – The team finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll, marking the first time the Gamecocks were ranked in the final top-25 poll since being slotted No. 14 in the final AP Poll of 1998.
1997 – The Gamecocks picked up the program’s first top-five road win since 1997 on Jan. 30, 2024 with a 63-59 victory over No. 5/5 Tennessee. The previous top-five road win was a 72-66 win at No. 3 Kentucky on March 2, 1997. The 59 points scored by Tennessee were a season-low for the Vols. It was also the first home loss of the season for UT, snapping a 13-game home winning streak by the Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UP NEXT
South Carolina is off the rest of the week before returning home on Dec. 22 to face South Carolina State (0-11) in its final game before a brief Christmas break. Tip is set for Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. (ET) with Cade Crenshaw (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast. The Gamecocks free concessions promotion is back for the final two non-conference games of the season. For more information, click here.

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