Jan. 28, 2009

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes

–South Carolina now has a three-game winning streak in SEC regular-season play for the first time since the 2005-06 season when it defeated Florida, Mississippi State and Alabama in consecutive outings in mid-February. That same year, South Carolina defeated Auburn in its final regular-season game then took down Mississippi State, Tennessee and Kentucky – four wins in a row – to reach the SEC Tournament final in Nashville.

–South Carolina’s 49 free throws demolished the existing Colonial Life Arena record of 34, set Feb. 12, 2003 against Clemson. It also marks the highest number of free throw attempts by any Southeastern Conference team this season, surpassing Arkansas’ 43 attempts against Oklahoma.

–The Gamecocks have won four straight SEC home games at home for the first time since the 2004-05 season when it beat Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Arkansas in its first four conference games in Columbia.

–At 4-2, the Gamecocks have their best SEC record since a 5-1 start to the 2004 season.

–Tonight was South Carolina’s first win over Vanderbilt since Jan. 18, 2006; the Gamecocks had lost five in a row to the Commodores prior to tonight’s win.

–South Carolina’s halftime lead of 12 points (42-30) was its largest in an SEC game since holding a 43-27 lead over Mississippi State on Feb. 11, 2006. The Gamecocks went on to win that game 83-61 in Columbia.

–The Gamecocks have now successfully connected on a three-point field goal in 222 consecutive games, dating back to the 2001-02 season.

–Dominique Archie’s eyes must light up when he sees Vanderbilt on the schedule. He tied a career high with three 3-pointers in tonight’s game and scored 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting, adding a pair of blocks in the process. Last season, Archie set a career high with 21 points in the Gamecocks’ contest with Vandy in Columbia, and also scored 15 against the Commodores in Nashville.

–Devan Downey scored 18 points to post his 18th double-figure scoring night in 19 tries this season. With 961 points in his two-year Carolina career, he stands only 39 short of becoming the 40th player in Gamecock history to top the 1,000-point plateau in a Carolina uniform.

–Brandis Raley-Ross scored in double figures for the first time in SEC play this season, notching 12 points on the night. It was his third career double-digit scoring night in SEC play as he scored 10 against Mississippi State on Feb. 23, 2008, and hit for 12 against Tennessee on Feb. 17, 2007.