Feb. 15, 2011

The South Carolina men’s basketball team (13-10, 4-6 SEC) travels to face Tennessee (15-10, 5-5 SEC) in a mid-week matchup on Wednesday at Thompson-Boiling Arena in Knoxville. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with the contest set to be televised on CSS with Dave Baker and Barry Booker on the call.

** Please note, the contest will be shown on Channel 506 on Time Warner Cable at no additional cost to Digital TV customers.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Arena: Thompson-Boiling Arena
Series: Tennessee leads 33-23
Television: CSS (check local listings)
Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Barry Booker (analyst);
Jimmy Lee Starling (producer)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
(107.5 FM – Columbia/GamecocksOnline.com)
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Multimedia: ESPN3.com

Game Notes vs. Tennessee

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 103rd season of basketball.
– South Carolina will play four of its last six regular-season contests on the road, beginning with Wednesday’s matchup at Tennessee.
– Senior forward Sam Muldrow became the all-time leader in South Carolina history with his four blocks vs. Georgia on Saturday. Muldrow now has 251 career blocks, which surpassed the previous high-water mark of 249 set by Brandon Wallace during the 2006-07 campaign.
– South Carolina has three road wins this season – at Western Kentucky, at Florida and most recently at LSU.
– South Carolina looks to break a three-game losing streak at Tennessee on Wednesday.
– Ellington has seven 20-point games this season and one 30-point contest (at Furman). He ranks 15th in the SEC in scoring with 13.9 points per game.
– South Carolina ranks second in the SEC in overall games with 14.3 offensive rebounds per game.
– South Carolina ranks third in the nation (Feb. 14 NCAA stats) in blocked shots per game with 6.5 per outing. Muldrow ranks first in the SEC and fourth in the nation in blocks per game (3.4).
– The Gamecocks are 10-0 this season when leading at the halftime break.
– South Carolina is 2-4 against SEC East teams this season, with wins over Vandy and Florida.
– In league play, the combination of Ellington, Muldrow and Galloway account for 37.2 points per game, 57.6% of South Carolina’s offensive production.
– In home games, South Carolina has held its opponent to under 41% shooting in nine of 15 contests.
– Senior forward Sam Muldrow recorded just the second triple-double in school history in the SEC opener win over No. 22/24 Vanderbilt, scoring 16 points, collecting a team-high 14 rebounds and blocking a career high 10 shots. It marked just the 21st triple-double in SEC history and the 11th all-time involving blocked shots.
– South Carolina has dished double-digit assists in 17 contests this season (through 22 games), compared to 18 times all of last season.
– South Carolina is 428-130-1 (.498) all-time in the month of February.

Star Watch – Muldrow Claims South Carolina Blocked Shots Record
– Senior forward Sam Muldrow surpassed Brandon Wallace (249) for first place in South Carolina history in career blocked shots on Saturday vs. Georgia.
– With his second block of the contest, which came with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, on a missed dunk by UGA’s Chris Barnes, Muldrow matched the standing block record of 249.
– Muldrow claimed the record with a block, again on a shot attempt by Barnes, with 8:17 remaining in the contest to take over the all-time lead in the category.
– Muldrow enters Wednesday’s contest at Tennessee with 251 career blocks. He is the SEC’s active career leader in blocked shots, and now ranks in the SEC Top 10 in the category.

Among Freshman In The SEC
– In overall games … Bruce Ellington ranks fourth in points per game (13.9), fourth in rebounding (3.5), third in assists (3.3) and fourth in steals (1.1) … Damontre Harris ranks second in field goal percentage (60.8%) and third in blocks per game (0.9).

Scouting Tennessee
– Tennessee enters Wednesday’s matchup vs. South Carolina with a 15-10 overall record, including a 5-5 mark in league play.
– The Volunteers are 2-3 against SEC East opponents this season, with wins vs. Vanderbilt and Georgia.
– Junior guard Scotty Hopson paces the Volunteers this season with 16.5 points per game, which ranks seventh in the SEC. Freshman forward Tobias Harris adds 14.4 points and collects a team best 7.4 rebounds per game.
– Since the return of Bruce Pearl to the sidelines, the Volunteers have dropped two road matches, at Kentucky and at Florida.

Tennessee Series
– Tennessee holds a 33-23 upperhand in the all-time series between the two schools, including a 21-7 advantage in games played in Knoxville.
– Tennessee has won seven-straight games against South Carolina and eight straight in Knoxville.
– The last South Carolina road win in the series came in a 94-60 victory at UT on Jan. 23, 2002. Freshman forward Carlos Powell led Carolina in that contest pouring in 19 points to lead five South Carolina players in double figures. South Carolina made 33 shots in the game, including 13 3’s.

By The Numbers
– 18.1 – Freshman point guard Bruce Ellington averages 18.1 points per game in away games this season. In strictly SEC away games, Ellington averages 16.5 points per game.
– 27.0 – Over the course of the last two games, South Carolina’s bench has accounted for 27.0 points per contest. The high scorer off the bench in those two contests was junior forward Malik Cooke with 10.5 per outing, including a Gamecock high of 15 points vs. Georgia on Saturday. South Carolina’s bench has scored 20 points or more in 15 contests this season, including an SEC season high of 36 points vs. Arkansas.
– 19-21 – Junior forward Malik Cooke has hit 19 of his last 21 free throw attempts dating back to a 6-of-6 effort in an overtime win over Arkansas on Jan. 19. Cooke’s 74.6% from the line this season leads the Gamecocks.
– 8 in 15 – Freshman forward RJ Slawson saw extended minutes vs. Georgia on Saturday. The rookie took advantage of that playing time, scoring eight points, including a 4-of-4 effort from the free throw line in the contest. Slawson also collected two rebounds.
– 9 – For the fourth time in SEC play, South Carolina committed single-digit turnovers in a contest, turning the ball over just nine times vs. Georgia.
– 50 – A win at UT would mark Gamecock head coach Darrin Horn’s 50th at the helm of the Carolina program.

Up Next For South Carolina
– South Carolina travels to Kentucky (Feb. 19) before returning home to Colonial Life Arena for a Feb. 22 matchup vs. Ole Miss.