Dec. 18, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina hosts Clemson on Friday in the 165th meeting all-time between the two rivals. The matchup will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Will Perdue on the call. Clemson has won two-straight games in the series entering Friday’s matchup.

GAMECOCK CLUB APPRECIATION DAY
Gamecock Club members will receive free admission to Friday’s game vs. Clemson with their Gamecock Club card!

GAME INFORMATION
Game Date: Friday, Dec. 19, 2014
Game Time: 7 p.m. ET
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Broadcast: SEC Network | WatchESPN
Talent: Mike Morgan (pxp), Will Perdue (analyst)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Sirius: 91; XM: 91
Series: South Carolina leads 88-76
Last Meeting: 71-57, Clemson win on Nov. 17, 2013 in Clemson, S.C.

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GAME STORYLINES
– South Carolina is in its 107th season of varsity basketball in 2014-15.
– The Gamecocks are led by third-year head coach Frank Martin. His associate head coach is Matt Figger, his assistant coaches are Perry Clark and Lamont Evans, and his director of operations is Andy Assaley.
– South Carolina extended its season-long win streak to three games on Dec. 6 with a 26-point victory over visiting Oklahoma State, defeating the Cowboys 75-49. Sophomore guard Duane Notice posted 20 points to lead three Gamecocks in double figures (Thornwell and Johnson with 13 apiece), hitting the 20-point plateau in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Notice hit 3-of-6 from the 3-point line, while also collecting four rebounds.
– Junior forward Mindaugas Kacinas led the Gamecocks on the glass with 12 rebounds vs. Oklahoma State, marking his third double-figure rebounding game of the season and just two shy of matching his career high. Kacinas leads the Gamecocks with 7.0 rebounds per contest, which ranks tied for fifth in the SEC. His 3.5 offensive boards per game rank third in the league and 34th nationally.
– Notice exploded for a career high 27 points leading the Gamecocks to their biggest road win since 2008 when they defeated Marshall 77-59 on Dec. 1. Notice hit 10-of-18 attempts from the floor and also collected five rebounds, while dishing a team high four assists in 36 minutes. Junior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius hit double-digits for the second straight game with 15 points, and sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell notched his third-career double-double with 10 points and a team high 10 rebounds. The Gamecocks hit 47.6 percent from the field in the win, holding the Thundering Herd to just 28.6 percent.
– South Carolina snapped a two-game losing streak with an 89-75 victory over UNC Asheville on Nov. 26, at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks posted solid offensive numbers in the game, hitting 31-of-60 attempts from the floor for a season high 51.7 percent. Chatkevicius led five Gamecocks in double-figures with a career high 17 points. Asheville hit just 36.5 percent from the floor, but guard Andrew Rowsey tallied 30 points, hitting 10 attempts, including six 3s.
– Chatkevicius posted his first-career double-double vs. the Bulldogs on Dec. 1, leading the Gamecocks in points (17), rebounds (13) and also in blocks (3). Hit point and rebound totals were both career highs, and his blocks matched a career high.

SCOUTING CLEMSON
Clemson enters Friday’s matchup with a 6-3 overall record after most recently posting a 72-61 home win vs. Auburn on Dec. 14. The Tigers’ three losses this season have come against Winthrop, Gardner Webb and Rutgers. Friday also marks the Tigers’ first true road game of the season. They’ve played six games at home, and three games in a neutral site tournament at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Five Clemson players are averaging double-digit points, led by Damarcus Harrison and Jaron Blossomgame with 12.0 per game each. Rod Hall (11.4), Landry Nnoko (10.9) and Donte Grantham (10.2) also contribute double digits. Blossomgame’s 9.0 rebounds per game lead the team and rank fifth in the ACC. Head coach Brad Brownell is in his fifth season leading Clemson. The Tigers are 3-0 vs. the SEC this season with wins vs. LSU, Arkansas and Auburn.

CLEMSON SERIES
South Carolina holds an 88-76 upperhand in the all-time series with Clemson, but the Tigers have won the last two contests, and three of the last five, entering Friday night’s game. 19 of the last 21 matchups between the two schools dating back to the 1994-95 season have come in the month of December, with the exceptions in the stretch a February game during the 2002-03 campaign, and last season’s November meeting.

BY THE #’S
8 – Rookie point guard Marcus Stroman not only dished a team high five assists in the win vs. Oklahoma State, but he also pulled down a season high eight rebounds in the win.
8.3 – South Carolina ranks fourth in the SEC and 51st in the nation with 8.3 steals per game.
10.3 – South Carolina is averaging 10.3 steals per game during its current three-game win streak, with Thornwell’s 3.0 per game leading the team.
4.3 – Stroman’s 4.3 assists per game rank seventh in the SEC.
2.1 – Sophomore guard Duane Notice ranks ninth in the SEC with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
272 – South Carolina owns an all-time record of 271-401 vs. opponents from the ACC. Carolina looks for win 272 vs. the conference on Friday.
13/10 – South Carolina junior forward Mindaugas Kacinas posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in last season’s matchup vs. Clemson.

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will make a quick turnaround to host Coker on Sunday. It will be the first meeting between South Carolina and Coker. The Cobras are led by head coach Dan Schmotzer in his 28th season.

“QUOTABLE”
“We have been defending well. Even the games we have lost, our defense has not been the problem. I’ve been real happy with our defense. What we haven’t done is we haven’t come up with those, you have a great possession defensively and that ball kind of just falls out there or comes off the rim and it’s a competitive ball, and we haven’t been coming up with those. I thought our guards were phenomenal in coming up with those basketballs and coming up with defensive rebounds and then taking off and just attacking in the open court. I thought our guards were real good. Our bigs didn’t play their cleanest game…the one thing they did do and continue to do is they’re protecting the rim for us defensively. We’ve got to make sure we maintain our focus with what we’re doing defensively and just continue to grow offensively.” – South Carolina head coach Frank Martin on the importance of early defense in his team’s win vs. Oklahoma State on Dec. 6

OKLAHOMA STATE NOTABLES
– Junior forward Michael Carrera missed his third-straight contest. He is still experiencing concussion-related symptoms.
– Carolina held Oklahoma State’s top three scorers to just 22 points on 7-of-39 shooting from the field. The trio of Le’Bryan Nash, Phil Forte and Anthony Hickey entered the game averaging 46 points per game combined.
– Senior guard Tyrone Johnson connected on a trio of three-point plays – a made shot and make at the foul line after a Cowboy foul. Two came within two minutes of each other in the second half, helping to put a bow on a 12-0 run.
– Junior forward Mindaguas Kacinas posted his third double-figure rebounding performance of the season, a season-high 12. He also hit a career-high two 3s in the win.
– The win vs. the Cowboys is Carolina’s first over a Big 12 opponent since an 85-84 win vs. Baylor on Jan. 2, 2009. Frank Martin’s record improves to 5-4 all-time vs. Oklahoma State.
– Duane Noticed scored 20 points for the second-straight game, marking his third-career 20-point performance.
– Marcus Stroman corralled a career-high eight rebounds and was one of six players with four or more rebounds in the game. The Gamecocks’ 49 rebounds overall were a new season-high.