Gamecocks Begin SEC Play, Host No. 11/11 Vanderbilt Saturday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (9-4) opens SEC play at home on Saturday afternoon welcoming in No. 11/11 Vanderbilt (13-0) to Colonial Life Arena. The Commodores are one of just six undefeated teams remaining in college basketball heading into 2026.

Tip is set for 2 p.m. (ET) with Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Rodney Terry (analyst) on the call for the ESPNU broadcast.

Arena doors open 1 hour prior to tipoff. Single-game tickets remain available for purchase here.

The Gamecocks will look to build on back-to-back, strong offensive efforts in the team’s final two non-conference games. Carolina scored 95 in a 25-point win over SC State (Dec. 22) and 96 in a 29-point victory over UAlbany (Dec. 30) earlier this week. It marked the first time since the 1970-71 season the Gamecocks have scored 95 or more points in consecutive games. Ten players scored in double-figures in the two ball games and the team shot it well across the board with shooting splits of 59.6% (62-of-104) from the floor, 39.2% (20-of-51) from 3 and 88.7% (47-of-53) at the free throw line combined in the non-conference victories. South Carolina currently ranks No. 6 in the nation in team free throw percentage (79.5%) and No. 8 in the country in 2-point field goal percentage (62.0%). Graduate guard Myles Stute, who is in his third season at Carolina after spending three seasons at Vanderbilt, has put together back-to-back solid performances with 15 points and seven rebounds against the Bulldogs and 12 points and five rebounds against the Great Danes. He hit six 3s in the two games and the Gamecocks improved to 10-1 over the last three seasons when Stute makes three or more triples.

The Commodores, led by second-year head coach Mark Byington, have solidified themselves as an SEC contender with a strong non-conference resume. They have one of the best offenses in the nation with five players averaging double-figures led by Oklahoma transfer guard Duke Miles (17.1 ppg). Vanderbilt is No. 10 in the country in scoring offense (94) and No. 10 in assists per game (19.9). They also lead the SEC, ranking in the top-15 nationally in in steals per game (10.6) and effective field goal percentage (59.9%). The Commodores are 3-0 on the road so far this season with a 77-70 overtime win at Memphis on Dec. 17 and an impressive 98-67 victory at Wake Forest on Dec. 21. Senior guard Tyler Nickel, a transfer from Virginia Tech last season, is one of the nation’s best 3-point shooters leading the SEC in 3-pointers made (48). He ranks ninth in the nation in 3-point percentage (48.5%) thru 13 games.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 2 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: ESPNU
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Kevin Fitzgerald
    ANALYST: Rodney Terry
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 390 | SXM APP: 980
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: 35-32, Commodores lead
IN COLUMBIA: 19-13, Gamecocks lead
SERIES TREND: Teams have split the last 12 matchups dating back to Feb. 18, 2017.
LAST MEETING: 66-63 Commodore victory at Memorial Gym on Jan. 15, 2025. Devin McGlockton had the game-winning, and-1 with 0.6 seconds left.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
1 – Per the ESPN Basketball Power Index for the 2025-26 season, South Carolina’s remaining strength of schedule is No. 1 in the nation. The entire SEC makes up the top-16 in the country.
15-1 – The Gamecocks have a 15-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
19-1 – The Gamecocks are 19-1 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
46-10 – The Gamecocks are 46-10 in 4 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.821 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).
11-0 – The Gamecocks are 11-0 (3-0 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.
4-0 – The Gamecocks are 4-0 this season when the bench scores 40 or more points.
17-1 – Carolina is 17-1 over the last three seasons when Myles Stute scores 10 or more points (only loss at No. 16/16 Indiana last season).
10-1 – The Gamecocks are 10-1 over the last three seasons when Stute makes three or more 3s (only loss at No. 16/16 Indiana last season).
458 – Meechie Johnson (207) and Stute (251) have combined to make 458 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 251 career 3s are T-17th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 207 3s rank T-44th. The Gamecocks are one of eight teams in NCAA Division I to have multiple players with 200+ career made 3s (Alabama, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, San Diego & West Virginia the others).
493 – Stute (142), Johnson (129), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (112) and Kobe Knox (110) have combined to play 493 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (T-5th) and Johnson (T-23rd) 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 at South Carolina 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.
44 – Johnson became the 44th 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).
114 – Carolina has hit 114 3s (8.7 3FG per game) in the first 13 games of the season with a combined 68  different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the 13 ball games (average of 5.2 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.
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
Carolina hits the road for just its second true road game of the season traveling to Baton Rouge to face LSU (12-1, 0-0 SEC). Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) Tuesday in the Red Stick with Lowell Galindo (pxp) and Pat Bradley (analyst) on the call for the ESPNU broadcast.

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