March 16, 2015

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (30-2) earned a No. 1 seed in its 12th berth in the NCAA Tournament and will face 16th-seeded Savannah State (21-10) on Fri., March 20, at 5 p.m. ET, with the contest set to be televised on ESPN2 in the event’s opening round. The Gamecocks are in the Greensboro Region and will host the first and second rounds of the tournament at Colonial Life Arena. The other first-round game in Columbia pairs eighth-seeded, Syracuse (21-9) and No. 9 seed Nebraska on Fri., March 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Single-session tickets for the first and second rounds will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tue., March 17. General admission seating is available for $17.50 (adult) for the first round (both games) and $20 (adult) for the second round. Youth, University faculty/staff and group pricing is also available. Booklets for the entire weekend are available for $36 and include a general admission ticket for each round. Purchase tickets by calling 1-800-4SC-FANS, visiting the Colonial Life Arena box office during regular business hours or going online at GamecocksOnline.com.

This is the fourth-consecutive season the Gamecocks will participate in the NCAA Tournament, matching the longest streak in program history (1988-91). South Carolina has reached the Sweet 16 twice in the previous three appearances (2014, 2012), and the program’s best finish came in 2001-02 when the team advanced to the Elite Eight. The Gamecocks have played in five Sweet 16s in their previous 11 appearances in the event. South Carolina owns a 13-11 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament. This weekend’s games will be the first NCAA Tournament games played in Colonial Life Arena and the first in Columbia since 2002.

For the second-straight season, South Carolina enjoyed its best regular season in school history, claiming the program’s first SEC Tournament title after repeating as regular-season champions. The 30 wins to-date matches the program record, originally set in 1979-80. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in the nation for 12 weeks, the third-longest stretch by any team in the last five seasons, and have spent 32 weeks in the Associated Press top 10 over the last two seasons, including 23 in the top five.