Feb. 27, 2009

South Carolina at Vanderbilt | 9 p.m. ET

| Live Audio | Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
South Carolina at Vanderbilt

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tipoff: 9 p.m. ET
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Memorial Gym (14,316)
Series: South Carolina leads, 22-21
Series Trend: South Carolina has won one
Television: ESPNU
Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Dickey Simpkins (analyst)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
Mike Morgan (play-by-play), Casey Manning (analyst)

Game Preview
South Carolina (20-6, 9-4 SEC) will play two of its final three regular-season games on the road, beginning with Saturday’s matchup against Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Gamecocks enter the contest in sole possession of first place in the SEC East after convincingly defeating Kentucky (77-59) in Columbia on Wednesday. South Carolina won the first matchup against Vanderbilt in late January (86-76) in Columbia.

Series Information
South Carolina holds a slight 22-21 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. Prior to South Carolina’s win earlier this season, Vanderbilt had won five straight against the Gamecocks. The Commodores hold a 12-9 edge in games played in Nashville.

Television Information
The contest will be televised by ESPNU with Clay Matvick handling play-by-play duties and Dickey Simpkins joining as the color analyst. The contest against Vanderbilt marks the 21st of 22 regular-season televised games for South Carolina, and the second game on the ESPN family of networks this season for the Gamecocks.

Radio Broadcast Information
The game will be broadcast on the ISP Gamecock Radio Network with Mike Morgan on the call with play-by-play and Casey Manning handling color analyst duties. The Gamecock Radio Network reaches throughout the state of South Carolina.

Scouting Vanderbilt
• The Commodores enter Saturday’s matchup with a 16-11 overall record, including a 5-8 mark in SEC play. Vanderbilt currently stands in fifth place in the SEC East.

• Since playing South Carolina on Jan. 28, Vanderbilt owns a 4-3 record (all league play), with impressive victories over Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky during the stretch.

• After struggling through an illness earlier in the year, sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy has provided a solid presence for the Commodores in recent games. The Aussie big man averages a team-best 14.7 points per game, while he also leads the squad with 7.0 rebounds per outing. Ogilvy has registered double figures in each of the last seven games, while he also has led Vandy on the boards in four of those contests.

• Freshman guard Jeffrey Taylor – who led the Commodores against South Carolina earlier this season with a game-high 23 points – has registered double figures in 20 of 27 games during his rookie campaign, leading the team in scoring six times. Taylor provides 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

• Junior guard Jermain Beal provides 12.1 points per game, while he leads the squad with 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per outing. Beal currently leads the SEC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0.

Scouting South Carolina
• South Carolina enters the contest against Vanderbilt with a 20-6 overall record – the first time the Gamecocks have registered 20 wins in a season since the 2005-06 campaign – including an SEC East-leading 9-4 mark in conference play.

• Since competing against Vanderbilt on Jan. 28, South Carolina owns a 5-2 record, with quality wins over Kentucky (twice) and Alabama.

• Gamecock junior point guard Devan Downey paces the squad with 20.1 points, 4.3 assists and a league-leading 3.1 steals per game. Downey has registered double figures in 25 of 26 games this season. His 21-point, five-assist and five-steal effort against Kentucky led the team to its first season sweep of the Wildcats since the 1997 season.

• Senior guard Zam Fredrick contributes 15.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in joining Downey as one of the top combo backcourts in the country. Fredrick contributed 15 points in the most recent win over Kentucky – his top effort since scoring 17 points in the contest at Florida on Feb. 3. Fredrick has reached double-digits in 22 of 26 games this season.

• Junior forward Dominique Archie continues to provide quality numbers on both ends of the court for the Gamecocks. Archie set a season high and equaled a career-best with four blocks in the win over Kentucky on Wednesday, while added 12 points and four rebounds. Archie looks to be the 42nd player in Gamecock history and the second this season to reach 1,000 points for his career, as he needs just 97 points to reach the career mark.

• Sophomore center Sam Muldrow had a career night in the victory over Kentucky on Wednesday. Muldrow had a career-high seven blocks in the game – only seven other times in school history has a Gamecock recorded more. He also had eight points and 10 rebounds in the contest, just his second career double-figure effort on the boards.

RPI Watch
South Carolina’s RPI (realtimerpi.com) after its victory over Kentucky on Wednesday stands at No. 42. In the SEC, only Tennessee (26) and LSU (30) rate above the Gamecocks entering weekend action.

SEC Streaks – Homestyle
South Carolina currently owns a seven-game HOME SEC win streak (Jan. 10, Auburn, 68-56; Jan. 21, Florida, 70-69; Jan. 24, Ole Miss, 82-71; Jan. 28, Vanderbilt, 86-76, Feb. 7, Georgia, 79-68), its first since the 1998 campaign when the Gamecocks won their first seven league games at home (Jan. 7, Vanderbilt, 71-71; Jan. 10, LSU, 70-53; Jan. 21, Tennessee, 81-51; Jan. 28, Florida, 74-72; Feb. 11, Alabama, 74-63; Feb. 14, Mississippi State, 74-63; Feb. 24, Georgia, 78-76). A 69-57 loss to Kentucky halted the streak.