Nov. 26, 2004

REMEMBER – THE GAMECOCK MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME STARTS AT 5 PM ON SATURDAY.

Good seats are still available for $10.

South Carolina, 2-0, continues its six-game homestand on Saturday, Nov. 27 when the Gamecocks host Temple University in a 5:00 pm game at The Colonial Center. The Carolina women’s team will play Jacksonville State immediately following the men’s game.

The two teams have met 12 times, with the Gamecocks holding a 7-5 advantage. Last year USC took its 8-0 record on the road to fall at Temple 71-61. It was the Gamecocks’ only non-conference regular season loss of the year. USC Coach Dave Odom is 5-2 against the Owls with his last win over the Owls coming in 2002 (Columbia, 66-47).

Temple is 1-1 this year with a last minute loss to Auburn (78-80) and a 75-57 road win over Georgetown. Last season the Owls finished 9-7 in the Atlantic 10 (2nd East) and 15-14 overall. They dropped a 71-76 game at Rutgers in the first round of the NIT.

Carolina is 48-32 against the Atlantic 10 Conference. USC has winning records against 7 teams, with the series even against 2 and losing records against 2.

What about Temple

Temple, fresh off a 75-57 victory at Georgetown Monday night, will be looking for its second win of the season. The Owls have featured a balanced offensive attack in its first two games with four players averaging double figures in scoring. Junior Mardy Collins leads the attack with a 17.5 scoring average. The team co-captain has been stellar in running the offense, dishing 18 assists against just two turnovers. In the win over the Hoyas, Collins connected on all five of his three-point attempts for a game-high 22 points.

Three other Owls, sixth-man Dustin Salisbery and newcomers Wayne Marshall and Mark Tyndale, average 14 points per game. Marshall also leads the Cherry and White in rebounding (8.0 rpg.) while Tyndale tops the squad in steals (4). Salisbery has been instant offense off the bench, scoring his 28 points over just 33 minutes. Juniors Antywane Robinson (7.0 ppg./6.5 rpg.) and Keith Butler (6.0 ppg./6.0 rpg.) round out the starting unit.

That’s our boy

Carlos Powell has scored 10 or more points in 16 straight games against non-conference opponents and make that 17 if you count last season’s NCAA Tournament game against Memphis. In the 16 games, he has scored a total of 235 points (14.7 ppg).

The last time he failed to score 10 or more against a non-conference opponent was on Feb. 12, 2003 vs. Clemson, when he tallied only five points.

Last season, he scored at least 10 points in 28 of the Gamecocks 34 games. USC went 3-3 in those games where he failed to get into double digits.

Groundhog Day at the Free Throw Line

The Gamecocks shot 20 free throws in both their games against Western Carolina and Winthrop and in both games USC made 14. In both halves of both games, USC missed three free throws.

Putting it in

In the first two games, Carolina has all of its players who played score at least one point except for one of them. Against Western Carolina 11 of 12 Gamecocks scored (except Stephen McDowell), while nine of 10 USC players scored in the Winthrop game (except John Chappell). The lone player that did not score in the Winthrop game did not take a shot in five minutes of action while the only player without any points in the Western Carolina game took only one shot in 15 minutes played. But both McDowell and Chappell scored in the other game.

State Champions III

Under Coach Dave Odom, USC is 14-0 against other schools from the state of South Carolina. This season USC plays in-state rivals Winthrop (62-52, 11/24/04), Clemson, SC State and Wofford.

Not in this house

The Gamecocks are 18-0 at the Colonial Center and 27-1 under Coach Odom in non-conference play at home. USC has won 24 non-conference games in a row at home. The last lost for USC at home against a non-conference opponent was on December 6, 2001 against Georgetown when the Hoyas’ won 70-68.

Not so many Turnovers

USC had 10 or less turnovers 7 times last season, pulling down a 5-2 record in those games, including 9 TOs in the 58-55 win over N.C. State a season-low 5 in the 59-48 win over Yale. This season they are 1-0 when turning it over 10 times or less (Winthrop).