Gamecocks Remain on Road at Auburn Saturday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (10-7, 1-3 SEC) remains on the road facing Auburn (10-7, 1-3 SEC) on Saturday night at Neville Arena. Tip is set for 6 p.m. (ET) with Mike Morgan (pxp) and Pat Bradley (analyst) on the SEC Network call for the league matchup.

The Gamecocks fell Wednesday night at No. 17/17 Arkansas (13-4, 3-1 SEC) as the Razorbacks improved to 11-0 on their home floor. Meechie Johnson led all scorers in the game with 29 points (9-of-13 FGs). He added six assists for the Gamecocks, his eighth game of the season with 5 or more helpers. Johnson (14.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.2 rpg & 1.2 spg) is one of just three players in the SEC (Labaron Philon – Alabama & Tyler Taner – Vanderbilt the others) averaging at least 14.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game this season.

Carolina remains the No. 1 free throw shooting team in the SEC (No. 7 nationally) at 78.7% (285-of-362 FTs). The Gamecocks have five players with 30 or more made foul shots shooting 77.1% or better led by Mike Sharavjamts (90.2%), who is the No. 3 free throw shooter in the SEC (No. 29 nationally). Johnson’s team-high 64 made free throws are 13^th most in the league. Carolina ranks No. 3 in the SEC (No. 29 nationally) in turnovers (9.9) per game.

Auburn fell 84-74 at Missouri on Wednesday night after defeating No. 15/15 Arkansas 95-73 at home last Saturday. They have five players who average double-figures led by UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall, who ranks No. 3 in the SEC (No. 29 nationally) in points (20.9) per game. He’s shooting the ball at an effective clip across the board with splits of 48.7% from the floor, 42.9% from 3 and 85.8% at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford averages 14.0 points. He and Hall both average 3.1 assists per game to lead the team. Texas Tech transfer Kevin Overton (12.9 ppg), Lincoln Memorial transfer Elyjah Freeman (10.6 ppg) and Mississippi State transfer KeShawn Murphy (10.1 ppg) also average double-figures for the Tigers.

The Tigers, who are led by first-year head coach Steven Pearl, are 7-1 at home this season (lone loss was 90-88 to Texas A&M on Jan. 6). They average 86.7 points per game but have the 15^th ranked scoring defense in the SEC, allowing 79.4 points per contest. Auburn gets to the foul line at a high rate, ranking No. 7 nationally in free throws made (20.2) and No. 6 nationally in free throw attempts (27.9) per game. Hall is No. 2 nationally in free throws made (121) and No. 6 nationally in free throw attempts (141). The Tigers are No. 10 in the nation in offensive rebounds (14.4) per game.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 6 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Neville Arena
TV: SEC Network
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Mike Morgan
    ANALYST: Pat Bradley
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
   ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 386 | SXM APP: 976
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: Tigers lead, 33-19
AT AUBURN: Tigers lead, 14-8
SERIES TREND: Tigers have won nine-straight dating back to an 80-67 win at Neville Arena on Jan. 22, 2020.
LAST MEETING: 66-63 win by Auburn last season at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 11. The back-and-forth contest featured nine lead changes and six ties.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
6 – Per the ESPN Basketball Power Index for the 2025-26 season, South Carolina’s remaining strength of schedule is No. 6 in the nation. The entire SEC makes up the top-20 in the country with Purdue (No. 2), Michigan (No. 15), Arizona (No. 16) and BYU (No. 20) the only other schools outside the SEC to crack the top-20.
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.
47-10 – The Gamecocks are 47-10 in 4 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.825 win %).
29-3 – Carolina is 29-3 under Paris last season when holding its opponents below 40% shooting from the floor. The team was 7-0 last season and is 5-0 this season when accomplishing the defensive feat.
7-0  – The Gamecocks are 7-0 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.
17-2 – Carolina is 17-2 over the last three seasons when Myles Stute scores 10 or more points (only losses at No. 16/16 Indiana last season and vs. No. 11/11 Vanderbilt on Saturday).
10-2 – The Gamecocks are 10-2 over the last three seasons when Stute makes three or more 3s (only losses at No. 16/16 Indiana last season and vs. No. 11/11 Vanderbilt on Saturday).
473 – Meechie Johnson (215) and Stute (258) have combined to make 473 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 258 career 3s are 20th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 215 3s rank 44th. The Gamecocks are one of NINE teams in NCAA Division I to have multiple players with 200+ career made 3s (Alabama, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, Purdue, San Diego & West Virginia the others).
509 – Stute (146), Johnson (133), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (116) and Kobe Knox (114) have combined to play 509 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (6th) and Johnson (T-22nd) 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.
53 – Johnson became the 53rd player (7th this season) in the SEC to hit seven or more 3s in a game over the last five seasons with his seven made 3s against Southern Miss. 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).
30 – Elijah Strong became the 26th different player (21st in SEC action) for SC since 2004-05 to have a 30-burger when he scored 30 points (18 in the first half) in just 25 minutes in a road win at LSU on Jan. 6. Strong was 10-for-15 (66.7%) from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from 3 and 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
9 & 5 – Strong became just the 9th player in D1 this season to have a 30-point game in 25 minutes or less (5 of those 8 previous 30-burgers were against non-D1 opponents). He also became just the 5th player since 2004-05 to do it in an SEC game. Alabama’s Brandon Miller was the last player to do it when he had 31 pts in 24 min vs. LSU on Jan. 14, 2023.
147 – Carolina has hit 147 3s (8.6 3FG per game) in 17 games this season with a combined 87 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the 17 ball games (average of 5.1 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 returns home to face Oklahoma (11-6, 1-3 SEC) at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

###