Nov. 22, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina is set to face two ranked opponents this week, beginning with a mid-week matchup with No. 25/24 Michigan. The Wolverines come to Colonial Life Arena with a flawless 4-0 record after most recently posting a 76-54 win over SMU to clinch the 2K Classic title at Madison Square Garden last Friday. The meeting between the Gamecocks and Wolverines marks the fifth all-time between the two schools, and the first since Carolina posted a 76-64 win over Michigan on March 30, 2006, to clinch its second-straight Postseason NIT championship.

PARKING INFORMATION

Below is parking information that will be helpful for Wednesday’s game vs. Michigan:
– The DOT Garage will open at 4:30 PM (College St. entrance only) for those with a lower level season parking pass
– The Pendleton and Lincoln entrances at the DOT garage will open at 5 PM per contractual obligations
– Season pass holders arriving before the DOT garage opens may park in Lot A, Lot B or the Discovery Garage
– Passes for the 650 Lincoln and 650 Greene garages will be honored beginning at 3 PM
– Shuttle service is available from the Pendleton Street Garage to the Colonial Life Arena. Shuttle service begins two hours prior to tip-off of all men’s and women’s basketball conference and non-conference games and ends one hour following the game. Parking is free in the garage and the shuttle ride round-trip is $3.

Game Storylines

– South Carolina is in its 109th season of varsity basketball in 2016-17.
– On the sidelines, Frank Martin is joined by associate head coach Matt Figger, assistant coaches Perry Clark and Bruce Shingler, and director of operations Andy Assaley.
– South Carolina will face two ranked opponents this week in No. 25/24 Michigan in Columbia, before traveling to Brooklyn, N.Y., to face No. 18/16 Syracuse in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational at the Barclays Center on Saturday.
– South Carolina looks for its fifth-straight victory to open the 2016-17 campaign, which would mark Carolina’s 21st win in its last 24 games at Colonial Life Arena.
– The Gamecocks posted a 90-52 victory over visiting SC State last Friday. Senior guard Sindarius Thornwell led Carolina for the fourth-straight game with a game best 22 points. Freshman forward Maik Kotsar was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and tallied 15 points, and sophomore big Chris Silva added 11. Carolina shot 50.8% (33-65) from the field, marking its third game shooting 50% or better this season.
– The Gamecocks held SC State to just 30.8% (16-52) from the field last Friday. It marked the third-consecutive opponent the Gamecocks have held under 40% from the field (Holy Cross: 37.8%; Monmouth: 30.8%; SC State: 30.8%).
– The Gamecocks claimed a hard-fought overtime victory over visiting Monmouth on Nov. 15, fueled by a buzzer beater jumper from sophomore guard PJ Dozier in overtime for the 70-69 win. South Carolina held Monmouth to just 23.3 percent (7-30) from the field in the opening half with stifling defense, but the Gamecock offense was unable to find its rhythm as well, hitting a slightly better 26.7 percent (8-30) in the set. The game had several scoring runs, with the team’s trading the lead late in the second half which resulted in the extra time. Senior guard Sindarius Thornwell led Carolina for the third-straight game, scoring 23 points, with nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
– Sophomore forward Chris Silva posted the first double-double of his career in the win vs. the Hawks with 10 points and a team high 10 rebounds.

Scouting Michigan

– Michigan is led by head coach John Beilein in his 10th season with the Wolverines. He is in his 39th season overall on the sidelines.
– Michigan finished the 2015-16 campaign 23-13 overall with a 10-8 mark in Big Ten play. The Wolverines earned the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament advancing to the semifinal and moved on to the NCAA Tournament playing in the First Four and First Round.
– The Wolverines return all five starters for the majority of games last season to this year’s squad, including leading scorer Zak Irvin (14.5 ppg entering Wednesday’s contest).
– Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team prior to the start of the 2016-17 campaign. Thus far he averages 14.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. His 4.0 assists per game tie Irvin for a team best.
– Walton Jr. posted a game-high 23 points, including a career-high seven three pointers, in Michigan’s most recent win over SMU in the 2K Classic Championship.
– Irvin was named the 2K Classic Championship Round MVP after scoring 16 points in both the semifinal and championship games, while Walton Jr. and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman also joined him on the all-tournament team.
– Michigan ranks first in the country in free throw percentage (NCAA stats games through Nov. 20) with a mark of 85.3 percent.

Martin-Beilein Connection

South Carolina head coach Frank Martin mentioned in his weekly press conference on Monday that he has known Michigan head coach John Beilein for several years, however, their time coaching together with USA Basketball during the summer of 2013, and their 18 days sharing a dorm room in Kazan, Russia, for the World University Games, strengthened their relationship.

Up Next

South Carolina travels to Brooklyn, N.Y., for a Saturday matchup vs. No. 18/16 Syracuse in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. Game time vs. the Orange is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN3. The game marks the third for Carolina at the Barclays Center during Frank Martin’s time with the Gamecocks. Carolina posted a 63-57 win over Manhattan in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invite on Dec. 22, 2012, at Barclays, before a 64-60 upset victory over No. 9/9 Iowa State at the venue on Jan. 3, 2015.

Quotable

Gamecock head coach Frank Martin on the week ahead (vs. Michigan, vs. Syracuse), and looking back at the start of the season:
“Excited for the week ahead. Excited for the progress our team has made after the first four games. I thought we’ve gotten better every game – offensively and defensively. I knew Sindarius [Thornwell] and Duane [Notice] for the most part, how they would react playing such drastic differences in the teams on such short turns, but everything else was kind of an unkown. After going back and reviewing, the young guys, and even PJ [Dozier] and Chris [Silva], because they are still young, we tend to forget that even though they played last year they are just starting their sophomore years, I thought our team handled all that pretty well. Turnovers, I think Monmouth is the one game we had too many – I think we had 20 that game. What concerns me is not the amount of turnovers but the kind of turnovers. We have to be better there.”