March 12, 2004

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South Carolina, 23-9 and 8-8 in the SEC, defeated Arkansas 91-81 in the First Round and then LSU 84-65 in the Second Round of the SEC Tournament and will now face Kentucky in the semi-finals of the Tournament on Saturday at 1:15 pm. The game will be televised on Jefferson-Pilot.

The first meeting between the two schools this season resulted in a 65-64 Wildcat win over Carolina on Feb. 7 in Lexington. The second meeting wasn’t so close, with UK waltzing away with a 65-84 win on Senior Day.

Gamecocks vs. UK in the SEC Tourney

The last meeting between the two teams in the SEC Tourney was on March 8, 2002 where USC won 70-57. During the regular season, UK swept the Gamecocks in two games. The Wildcats won the first meeting 51-50 in Columbia, and then took a 91-74 game in Lexington. This year, UK took both regular season games, a 65-64 game in Lexington and a 84-65 game in Columbia.

A few quick notes

The 23 wins is the most for South Carolina since the 1997-98 season when Carolina had 23. The Gamecocks had 24 during the 1996-97 season.

Before the SEC Tournament, Boynton had scored a total of 41 points in the five previous games. He has 50 in the two SEC Tournament game so far. During this span, he is 11 of 19 from beyond the arch.

The six three pointers by Boynton are a season high for an individual on the team for Carolina. He has the top three totals for USC this season. He hit five twice this season, once against Arkansas and the other time against Vanderbilt.

* Playing on a neutral site: The Gamecocks are 4-0 when playing at a neutral site this season.

The Gamecocks have shot 50% or better from behind the arch in five games this season. The three point percentage of 57.1% against LSU on Friday is the second highest this season for Carolina. (64.7 vs. Tennessee) USC is 5-0 when they shoot for 50 percent or better from behind the arch.

The 85 points scored against LSU on Friday is the fourth highest point total in a game for USC this season. The Gamecocks have tallied 80 or more points this season eight times. Six of those eight games are against SEC opponents. One of the games was against Alabama in overtime but the others were all in regulation.

Advancing

Since 1996, USC has played in the second round of the SEC Tournament seven of the last nine years with the Gamecocks advancing to the finals in 1998 before falling 56-86 to Kentucky in the finals. USC exited in the first round in 1999 and 2003 with both losses coming at the hands of Ole Miss.

The last time USC advanced to the semi-finals was in 2002, under Odom, when the Gamecocks defeated Ole Miss and Kentucky before falling to Alabama 57-65 in the semi-finals.

Odom in conference tournaments

Gamecock third-year head coach Dave Odom is 13-13 in his career in conference championship tournaments. He was 0-1 while at East Carolina, losing in the 1982 ECAC-South Tournament. He went 9-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, with Wake Forest winning the 1995 and 1996 titles and his Demon Deacon teams advancing to at least the semifinals five times.

He has a 4-2 record in the SEC Tournament. His first season he saw the Gamecocks make the semi-finals of his first SEC Tournament, posting a 2-1 record. Last year USC fell in the first round to Ole Miss.

Gamecocks vs. conference tournaments

South Carolina is 12-12 all-time in the SEC Tournament, with five semifinal and one finals appearance in 13 season. All-time, South Carolina is 37-54 in conference championship tournaments, going 10-18 in the Southern Conference classic (1922-52), 13-17 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament (1953-71), and 3-8 in the Metro Conference Tournament (1983-91). Carolina captured the 1933 SoCon and 1971 ACC tourney titles.

Inching up

Mike Boynton, Jr. is in USC’s all-time top 10 for games played with 123 – he will take over the record against Kentucky on Saturday. He is also inching up the list for career steals with 113 and is No. 10 on the school’s all-time top 10 list.

With Rolando Howell’s career ended due to a fractured wrist, Carlos Powell will most likely be the next Gamecock to score 1000 career points. Powell has scored 978 points in his career thus far.

Rolando Howell was just 30 points from the 1,000 point club mark as he had scored 970 points in his career. Howell needed five more blocks to hit the top 10 in all-time blocks.

Player Career Category Player Stat Record or place

Mike Boynton, Jr. Games Played 122 123/1st (121/T5th)

Mike Boynton, Jr. Steals 113 112/10th

Rolando Howell Blocks 72 76/10th

Rolando Howell Points 960 1000/41st

Carlos Powell Points 978 1000/41st

Turnover, Rebounds – in the bonus

This season, USC has turned the ball over a total of 422. Eight times this season they have had their turnover total at 10 or less. During the 2002-03 season, USC accomplished this feat only four times.

Last season USC was out-rebounded or equaled their opponents total 19 times. The Gamecocks went 5-14 in those 19 games. This season, Carolina has been out rebounded or equaled the opponents a total of 16 times. USC is 13-4 in those 17 games.

10 or less

The Gamecocks came into the season turning the ball over 10 or fewer times 13 times under Coach Odom. This season, USC has accomplished this task eight times. USC is 7-1 in those games. The Gamecocks are averaging 13.1 turnovers a game this season. Since the 1971-72 season, the lowest total per game is 13.3 in 1978-79 and in 2002-03.

Multiple times, multiple players

USC has only had three games, the Florida and Arkansas losses and the win at Vandy, where it had as few as two players score in double figures; and just one game where SC saw only one player in double figures (the game at Florida). USC has had six players in double figures twice already, not accomplishing this even once last year. Here is the chart of this year, the number of players in double figures and the results.

* 1 player: (1x and are 01): Florida

* 2 players: (4x and are 1-3): Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky

* 3 players: (11x and are 10-1): Idaho, The Citadel, Temple, Charleston Southern, NC State, SC State, Yale, Appalachian State, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Georgia

* 4 players: (10x and are 6-4): Richmond, Campbell, Clemson, Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU

* 5 players: (3x and 3-0): Navy, SMS, Alabama

* 6 players: (2x and 2-0): Gardner-Webb, Georgia

Got it

Including his tenures at South Carolina, Wake Forest and East Carolina, Odom’s career head coaching record is an impressive 335-213, with Coach Odom knotching his 325th vs. App. State on Jan. 2, 2004. It was also his 520th as a collegiate coach in his 28th season (529-329). He got his 50th win at the USC helm against Tennessee.