Feb. 27, 2006

Game 28 o LSU at South Carolina o Feb. 28, 2006 o Colonial Center (18,000) o Columbia, S.C.

Tipoff: 7:02 pm (EST)
TV: ESPN (Jimmy Dykes, Brad Nessler, Heather Cox)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
Sirius radio: Channel No. 110
Series Record: USC leads 11-7
In Columbia: USC leads 5-3
In Baton Rouge: Series tied 3-3
Neutral site: USC leads 3-0
Last Meeting: LSU won 79-64 on Jan. 12, 2005 in Baton Rouge

USC, 14-13 and 5-9 in the SEC, will host No. 24 LSU, 20-7 and 12-2 in the SEC, in its final home game of the season on Tues., Feb. 28 at 7 pm. The home team has won the last four match-ups between the two teams, with USC also defeating LSU in the first round of the 2004 SEC Tournament (85-64). USC is 2-0 vs. the SEC Western Division at home this season and 0-2 vs. the same side on the road.

Senior Day for Tarence Kinsey, Rocky Trice and Antoine Tisby was on Saturday, but tickets are available for the game to say your last goodbyes to the 2006 Senior class.

The LSU game will be televised on ESPN with Jimmy Dykes and Brad Nessler making the call and Heather Cox working the sidelines. The LSU game will be South Carolina’s third game in six days – including its second in that span on ESPN. USC is 2-0 when Nessler and Cox are part of the team in Columbia. USC hasn’t lost at home on ESPN/ESPN2 since Feb. 5, 2002 (63-72, Florida).

The Tigers feature three hometown heroes in their starting line-up: Glen Davis, Tyrus Thomas and Garrett Temple all hail from Baton Rouge, with their entire starting line-up coming from within the Bayou State boarders.

USC has lost three straight, including its second straight one point loss, falling 56-57 to Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. LSU, already crowned the SEC Western Division champion for the second straight year, has won four in a row including a 71-67 win over Kentucky on Feb. 25 behind Glen Davis’ 28 point-15 rebound performance. LSU is currently leading the league with a 12-2 record after UT’s loss to Arkansas put its record at 11-3.

The LSU game will be carried on the Gamecock Radio Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Casey Manning (color analyst). The game can also be heard via the internet at www.uscsports.com and on Sirius radio channel 110.

What’s left?
LSU (Feb. 28, ESPN) is the last team left on the home schedule. LSU will come to Columbia looking for its first wins in the new building.

USC will honor Zam Fredrick at the LSU game It is the 25th anniversary of Fredrick winning the NCAA Division I scoring title when he scored 28.9 ppg during the 1980-81 season. A co-captain of the 1981 team that finished 17-10, Fredrick was named to the Citizens Savings All-America team. The native of St. Matthews, S.C., Fredrick scored 1,383 points in his career and his is currently No. 14th on the all-time points scored list. His 781 points his senior year were second only to Grady Wallace’s 906 points (1957).

USC will close out the regular season at Auburn on March 4 and then travel to Nashville for the SEC Tournament March 9-12.

Close Calls
USC has lost the last two games by one point each. Both one-point losses came down to USC having the ball with seconds left on the clock, but unable to score.

USC has had 14 games decided by seven points or less, posting a 5-9 record – including nine of those being SEC games (USC is 3-6 in those games). USC has had six games this season decided by three points or less, including three in a row earlier in the season – UGA (61-64), at Vandy (66-64) and at UK (78-80). Five of those games decided by three or less came down to the game’s final seconds: UGA’s Stukes made game winner with 1 second on the clock in OT; Tre’ Kelley laid up the game winner at Vandy with 5 seconds left in OT and UK’s Rajon Rondo made a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.

Three of the six games that were decided by three points or less went to OT. Each of USC’s first six SEC games were decided by seven points or less and nine total have been decided by the same tally.

The past, the future
A USC win on Tuesday would give Dave Odom 370 career wins. An LSU win would give John Brady his 250th career win.

The Gamecocks have won four of the last six vs. the Tigers and own an 11-7 record in the series. LSU, Vanderbilt and Georgia are the only three SEC schools that USC owns the series record against. USC’s SEC record vs. the Tigers is 10-7 as its only other meeting came when the Tigers visited Columbia back in 1974 for the Carolina Classic, dropping a 77-64 decision to the Gamecocks.

A few things about the rivalry:
First Meeting: Dec. 21, 1974 (77-64, in Columbia)
Last Meeting: Jan. 12, 2005 (64-79, in Baton Rouge)
Last 5 Meetings: 3-2
Last 10 Meetings: 6-4
Most USC Points in Columbia: 106 (106-68, Feb. 10, 1996)
Most LSU Points in Columbia: 77 (71-77, Feb. 2, 1994)
Largest USC Winning Margin in Columbia: 38 (106-68, Feb. 10, 1996)
Largest LSU Winning Margin in Columbia: 18 (56-74, Feb. 19, 1992)

A telling sign of success
USC is averaging 41% beyond the arc in SEC wins and just 29% in its nine losses. On the flip side when the SEC opponent wins they are hitting 38.7% in three point land as compared to 29% in a loss to the ‘Cocks.

Up There
USC is No. 1 in scoring defense in all games (63.5) and No. 2 behind LSU in SEC games (66.9). USC is second in both opponent rebounding in all games (31.4 rpg) and SEC games (31.5 rpg).

Individually, Tarence Kinsey among the SEC leaders in scoring, free throw %, field goal % and minutes played. Tre’ Kelley is tied for the league lead in SEC games with 5.1 apg.

Balkman and the Boards
When Renaldo Balkman records five or more rebounds in a game, Carolina is 12-7.

Balkman has recorded four or fewer rebounds in eight games this season. When Balkman grabs four or fewer rebounds, Carolina is 2-6.

Winning the team rebounding battle this year doesn’t guarantee an SEC win for USC this year. USC is 2-6 when it wins the battle of the boards. USC is 2-3 when the opponent wins the boards battle and 1-0 when they rebound the same number.

1007 and counting
Tarence Kinsey has racked up 1,007 career points – hitting his 1000th career point with a free throw in the second half vs. Vandy (18:45). He become the 38th Gamecock to go over the 1,000 mark. Kinsey’s 405 points this season already surpass the points he scored in his sophomore (273) and junior years (286). He scored just 43 points in an injury riddled freshman season.

Kinsey has hit 20+ points seven times this season, including two 21 point performances at Kentucky and then at home against Kentucky. In his first three seasons at USC, Kinsey played in 85 games and in those 85 games he hit the 20+ mark only twice. (23 vs. South Carolina State, 12-22-04 and 21 vs. Idaho, 11-18-03).

He has 106 career three-pointers and needs three more to enter the career top 10 at Carolina (109, Antonio Grant 1997-2001).

Kinsey is averaging a career-high 38% beyond the arc this season (48-127), but he is just 3-26 (11.5%) since hitting 4-6 in the 71-67 win at No. 6 Florida on Feb. 8. He has hit at least one three in 22 games this season.

All along
Carolina is led by Tarence Kinsey and his 15.2 ppg. For stats geeks, Kinsey leads the Gamecocks in scoring in every way you figure it: SEC games (14.4 ppg), wins (14.8 ppg), losses (14.7 ppg), home (15.0 ppg), away (13.9 ppg) and neutral (21.0 ppg). Kinsey also leads the team in mpg (34.1), 3pt % (37.8%) and free throw % (87.1%). He is second in steals (1.3) and tied for third in assists (2.1).

Tre’ Kelley is second with 11.7 ppg and leads the team with 4.2 apg. Brandon Wallace leads the team with 6.2 rpg and is second with 2.3 apg. He leads the team with 1.4 bpg and is fourth with 7.3 ppg. Wallace’s four double-doubles top Renaldo Balkman’s three and Kinsey’s two. Balkman’s third on the team with 9.9 ppg and 2.0 apg. He leads the team with 1.6 spg and his 6.0 rpg are second-best on the Carolina roster.

Halftime doesn’t say it all
Carolina has led at halftime in eight of the 14 SEC contest this season. Six of the eight SEC contest where they led at the half were at home. The only time leading at halftime on the road was in Gainesville against the Gators (2-4 overall on the road). The other games on the road, USC either trailed or was tied at the break. USC has not trailed at halftime at home in a SEC game this season, but only holds a 3-4 record at the Colonial Center in SEC play.

Oddly enough, on Feb. 25 in the SEC, all five teams that led at halftime were behind at the final buzzer. Before the 0-5 mark on Saturday, SEC teams had a 149-28 (.842) when leading at the half.

Quickly
USC is 6-5 following a loss. SC was 8-3 in 2004-05 and 6-4 in 2003-04.

USC will appear on television at 22 times during the regular season, including at least seven games on national television (6 ESPN/ESPN2, 1 CBS) and one tape delay (SUN Sports). The 22 appearances are the most regular-season television appearances ever for the Gamecocks. USC is 9-12 on TV this season. See complete schedule on page one.