Gamecocks Return Home, Face Oklahoma Tuesday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (10-8, 1-4 SEC) is back home at Colonial Life Arena for a mid-week matchup with Oklahoma (11-7, 1-4 SEC) on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with doors opening 1 hour prior. It marks just the fourth all-time trip to Columbia for the Sooners and first since a Nov. 26, 1991 non-conference matchup at Carolina Coliseum.

Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

The first 1,300 students in The Cockpit will get a free t-shirt tomorrow night. There will also be free pizza for the first 500 students. For more information on claiming student tickets, click here.

Rolla Bolla will be providing halftime entertainment for fans attending the game. For more information on the performance, click here.

The Gamecocks are looking to snap a three-game losing skid in league action that dates back to a 75-70 loss to No. 18/20 Georgia back on Jan. 10. Carolina battled back from a double-digit deficit at Auburn on Saturday but fell, 71-67. Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson continued his standout play leading the team with 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. He’s one of just three players (Darius Acuff Jr. – Arkansas and Tyler Tanner – Vanderbilt) so far in five SEC games to rank in the top-20 in scoring (17.0 ppg) and top-five in assists (5.8) per game. Freshman forward EJ Walker has also been a bright spot for Carolina over the last two ball games. He played a career-high 17 minutes at Auburn on Saturday finishing with six points and four rebounds.

Thru 18 games, Carolina remains the SEC leader (No. 12 nationally) at the free throw line, shooting 78.0% (298-of-382 FTs) as a team. The Gamecocks are No. 2 in the SEC in opponent 3-point percentage, allowing just 29.1% from behind the arc. Carolina and No. 3/4 UCONN are the only high major teams in the country holding opponents below 30.0% from 3 at a 3-point shot rate of less than 35.0%. The Gamecocks also have the No. 4 scoring defense in the league, allowing just 71.8 points per game.

Oklahoma is also looking to snap a four-game losing streak in SEC action that dates back to a 72-53 loss at Mississippi State back on Jan. 7. Their lone SEC victory was an 86-70 home win over Ole Miss on Jan. 3. The Sooners are 1-3 in true road games this season with an 86-68 win at Wake Forest in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 2. Saint Joseph’s transfer guard Xzayvier Brown is the team’s leading scorer at 16.0 points per game. Miami transfer guard Nigel Pack (15.5 ppg), Notre Dame transfer forward Tae Davis (12.8 ppg) and Alabama transfer forward Derrion Reid (11.7 ppg) also average double-figures. Alabama transfer forward/center Mohamed Wague leads the team in rebounds (7.2) and blocks (1.6) per game. The Sooners have shot it well from distance this season and rank fourth in the SEC in 3s per game (9.8) and fifth in 3-point percentage (35.1%). Pack ranks in the top-30 nationally in 3s per game (3.2) and 3-point percentage (43.2%).

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Kevin Fitzgerald
    ANALYST: Daymeon Fishback
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 384 | SXM APP: 974
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: Sooners lead, 5-1
IN COLUMBIA: Sooners lead, 2-1
SERIES TREND: Sooners have won four-straight dating back to 65-48 win in the Carolina Classic on Dec. 23, 1977.
LAST MEETING: 82-62 Sooners win on Jan. 18, 2025 last season in Norman in what was the first meeting between the two schools since Dec. 10, 1992.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
12 – Per the ESPN Basketball Power Index for the 2025-26 season, South Carolina’s remaining strength of schedule is No. 12 in the nation. The entire SEC makes up the top-20 in the country with Purdue (No. 3), Oklahoma State (No. 15), Michigan (No. 16) and Arizona (No. 18) the only other schools outside the SEC in 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).
478 – Meechie Johnson (218) and Stute (260) have combined to make 478 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 260 career 3s are 20th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 218 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).
513 – Stute (147), Johnson (134), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (117) and Kobe Knox (115) have combined to play 513 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.
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).
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.
155 – Carolina has hit 155 3s (8.6 3FG per game) in 18 games this season with a combined 91 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the 18 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
South Carolina is back on the road for a Saturday tilt at Texas A&M (14-4, 4-1 SEC). The Aggies are T-1st in the SEC currently and received votes in both major top-25 polls this week. Tip is set for 3:30 p.m. (ET) at Reed Arena with Doug Sherman (pxp) and Scott Williams (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

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