March 14, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina men’s basketball team will host eighth-seeded High Point (21-10) on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2016 National Invitation Tournament at Colonial Life Arena. Tuesday’s matchup will be broadcast on ESPNU and will tip at 7 p.m. ET. South Carolina’s appearance in the NIT marks the Gamecocks’ first postseason appearance since the 2008-09 campaign. The Gamecocks have earned a No. 1 seed in the NIT after posting a 24-8 record this season, with those 24 wins setting a regular-season record for victories. Carolina will look to match the school record for wins in a season on Tuesday versus the Panthers. The winner of the Carolina versus High Point matchup will face the winner of No. 4 seed Georgia Tech versus fifth-seeded Houston.

GAMECOCK QUICK HITS

– South Carolina is in its 108th season of varsity basketball in 2015-16.
– Carolina is led by fourth-year head coach Frank Martin. Alongside him are associate head coach Matt Figger, assistant coaches Perry Clark and Lamont Evans and director of men’s hoops operations, Andy Assaley.
– South Carolina is 15-2 in home games this season, averaging 79.8 points per game in those contests.
– The Gamecocks received votes or were ranked for 15 weeks in the USA Today Coaches Poll, rising to as high as 15th, and for a total of 14 weeks in the AP poll, rising to as high as 19th, this season.
– Frank Martin led teams are 7-5 all-time in postseason competition, including a 1-1 mark in NIT games.
– South Carolina is 65th in the most recent NCAA RPI (March 14), and the Gamecocks are 8-5 against teams in the top 100 of the RPI.
– The Gamecocks concluded their 25th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference in 2016 with an 11-7 record. Carolina owns a 155-253 (.379) all-time record in SEC play.
– Frank Martin owns a 76-78 (.493) all-time record in conference games. The 11 SEC wins in 2016 match the highest conference wins for a team under the direction of Martin, as his 2009-10 Kansas State squad also won 11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
– South Carolina’s 15 home wins this season marked the most since the 2008-09 squad went 16-3 at Colonial Life Arena.
– South Carolina opened the 2015-16 season with a perfect 15-0 record, which was the best start to a season since the 1933-34 campaign when Carolina began the season 17-0.

GAMECOCKS IN THE NIT

South Carolina’s appearance in the NIT is its 12th all-time, and the first since 2009. South Carolina owns an all-time record of 21-9 in the NIT and has won the event twice (2005, 2006) and finished as the tournament’s runner-up in 2002.

SCOUTING HIGH POINT

– High Point enters NIT action as an eight seed with a 21-10 overall record this season, which inludes a 13-5 mark in league games.
– High Point claimed a share of the 2015-16 Big South regular-season title and became one of just three programs ever to win four-straight Big South regular-season championships this season.
– Since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, HPU leads the Big South in league wins with 50.
– Redshirt-senior John Brown was named the Big South Player and Big South Defensive Player of the Year this season.
– Senior Adam Weary earned second team All-Big South honors after posting 12.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and shooting 51.3 percent on the year.
– Brown (foot) and Weary (knee) are both out for the upcoming NIT.
– The Panthers rank seventh in the country in turnover margin this season (4.1) and rank in the top 25 in free throw percentage (10th, 76.4%), assist turnover ratio (22nd, 1.45), fewest turnovers (17th, 331), field goal percentage (21st, 48.1%) and steals per game (17th, 8.1).
– The Panthers are 1-3 all-time in the postseason, including an 0-1 mark in the NIT.
– The Panthers are led by former Gamecock assistant, Scott

BY THE NUMBERS

3.0 – In the spring of 2015 the Gamecocks posted their fifth-straight semester of a 3.0 cumulative team GPA or higher.
3.3+ – Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas was named CoSIDA Academic All-District on Feb. 11, as he holds above a 3.3 cumulative GPA. The honor was the first of his career.
5 – In scoring a team high 22 points at Auburn, Thornwell hit a career high five 3s. It was the most made 3s in a game by a Gamecock since Notice hit his own career high five vs. Clemson last season.
5 – Kacinas hit 5-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc in the home contest vs. Georgia, marking a new career high for made 3s.
+5 – South Carolina won five more SEC games this season (11) than it did last season (6). No other team improved their record in league games by more than two (Texas A&M and Vanderbilt).
6 – Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell dished six assists in the Carolina win at Arkansas on March 5. It marked the 12th time this season and the 20th time in his career that he has dished five or more assists in a game.
6-6/5-5 – In the win at A&M, senior forward Michael Carrera reached his 1,000th career point, hitting 6-of-6 from the field, and 5-of-5 from the 3-point line. His five made 3s marked a new career high.

SERIES VS. HIGH POINT

Tuesday’s meeting is the first all-time between the Gamecocks and High Point Panthers.