Feb. 1, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina begins a two-game road swing when it travels to face Georgia on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. The Gamecocks and Bulldogs met three times last season, with Carolina winning both regular-season matchups before the Bulldogs collected a win over South Carolina in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Gamecocks are in search of their seventh SEC win of the season, which would mark the most league victories for Carolina since the 2009 campaign.

GAME STORYLINES

– 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.
– Senior forward Michael Carrera tallied his third-straight 20-point game and his second-straight double-double to lead Carolina in a 78-64 home win vs. Alabama, evening the season series between the two schools. Carrera also pulled down a game high 11 rebounds. Rookie forward Chris Silva added 12 points and three blocks in the first start of his college career, and junior guard Sindarius Thornwell scored 14 with seven rebounds. The Gamecocks didn’t shoot well, hitting only 36.7 percent from the field, but Carolina committed just 11 turnovers which Alabama converted into just four points.
– The Gamecocks will play three of their next five games on the road, beginning with Tuesday’s game at Georgia.
– South Carolina posted a 64-58 win in last season’s game at Stegeman Coliseum vs. the Bulldogs.
– Michael Carrera has hit the 20-point mark in three-straight games (22 at Tennessee, 34 vs. Miss State, 20 vs. Alabama), making him the first Gamecock to score at least 20 points in three-straight games since Devan Downey hit the mark in three consecutive games late in the 2009-10 campaign.
– Carrera also has two-straight double-doubles, the first time a Gamecock has had back-to-back double-doubles since Sam Muldrow had 15 points and 11 rebounds vs. SC State on Jan. 4, 2011, and then followed with a triple-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks in an OT win vs. Vanderbilt on Jan. 8, 2011. Carrera is the first Gamecock to have back-to-back double-doubles in league play since Dominique Archie had 17 points and 11 rebounds vs. LSU on Jan. 14, 2009, and then 19 points and 12 rebounds vs. Tennessee on Jan. 17.
– South Carolina responded after just its second loss of the season with a solid performance at home versus Mississippi State on Tuesday. Led by a career night from senior forward Michael Carrera, who tallied a career high 34 points, and matched a career high with 15 rebounds, Carolina earned the 84-74 win. Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell was also in double-figures at 15 points on the night, while junior guard Duane Notice added 13 points, and senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas pulled down 10 rebounds.
– Carrera became the first Carolina player since the Gamecocks joined the SEC to score at least 30 points and collect 10 rebounds in a game.
– South Carolina is 28th in the most recent NCAA RPI (Feb. 1).
– In the most updated NCAA stats (games through Jan. 31), South Carolina ranks in the top 20 in field goal percentage defense (13th), rebound margin (10th), free throw attempts (3rd), free throws made (7th), and total rebounds per game (5th).

GAMECOCKS IN THE POLLS

South Carolina is back in the Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll this week, checking in at No. 25, while Carolina is No. 23 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Gamecocks have been receiving votes or have been ranked for the past 10 weeks in the Coaches Poll, rising to as high as 15th, and also for 10 straight weeks in the AP poll.

SCOUTING GEORGIA

The Bulldogs are led by head coach Mark Fox in his seventh season in Athens. Four Bulldog players average double-figure points, led by junior guard J.J. Frazier’s 16.5 points per game. He also paces the team in league games with 17.4 per outing, which ranks tied for eighth in the league. Sophomore forward Yante Maten adds 15.7 per outing (overall games), with a team high 7.6 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs average 70.8 points per game this season, and are holding opponents to just 38.5 percent from the field, which ranks 14th nationally. UGA’s 5.3 blocked shots per game rank fifth in the league and 28th nationally as well. In league play, Georgia has two wins vs. Missouri, a home win vs. Tennessee and an overtime home win vs. Arkansas. UGA is 10-3 in games played at Stegeman Coliseum this season.

UP NEXT

South Carolina continues its road swing at No. 8/8 Texas A&M on Saturday. The Aggies won last season’s meeting between the two schools, 62-52 in Columbia. Saturday’s contest is just the fifth all-time between the two schools and the third in College Station. Game time for the matchup is set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Chris Spatola (analyst) will have the call.

BY THE NUMBERS

50+ – South Carolina has four games with at least 50 rebounds this season, including 51 last week vs. Mississippi State and 50 vs. Alabama.
25 – Carolina out-rebounded Mississippi State by 25 on Jan. 26, the biggest margin for the Gamecocks since out-rebounding The Citadel by 24 on Nov. 12, 2007. A span of 271 games.
20.4 — Senior forward Michael Carrera has led the Gamecocks in scoring in four of the last five games, during that stretch he is averaging a team best 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
34 – Carrera’s 34 points against Mississippi State were the most scored by a Gamecock since Brenton Williams tallied 32 in a road contest at Missouri on Jan. 25, 2014.
85.1 – Over the course of the last five games, Carrera has hit 40-of-47 free throw attempts (85.1 percent).
18 – Sophomore point guard Marcus Stroman played 18 minutes in the second half vs. Mississippi State, dishing two assists.
10 – Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with seven points in the win vs. MSU. It marked Kacinas’ 15th career game with double-figure rebounds and his third of the season.