Jan. 22, 2010

The South Carolina men’s basketball team (11-7, 2-2 SEC) concludes its two-game road swing with an SEC East matchup at Florida (13-5, 2-2 SEC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes have the call, while fans can also listen to Andy Demetra and Casey Manning on the Gamecock Radio Network.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Tipoff: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Arena: Stephen C. O’Connell Center (12,000)
Series: Florida leads 35-20
Television: ESPN
Talent: Brad Nessler (pxp), Jimmy Dykes (analyst)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
(107.5 FM – Columbia/GamecocksOnline.com)
Talent: Andy Demetra (pbp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Multimedia: ESPN360.com

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 102nd season of basketball.
– The Gamecocks are 1-4 on the road this season, with their lone win at Auburn on Jan. 9.
– Carolina is 9-4 this season in games in which it scores at least 70 points.
– Saturday’s contest at Florida marks the fourth of 10 for the Gamecocks on the ESPN family of networks during 2009-10 regular season. South Carolina holds a 10-12 record in games played on the family of networks since the 2005-06 season.
– South Carolina holds a +17.0 scoring margin in games it’s won this season.
– Darrin Horn-led teams are 42-39 (.518) all-time in away games. South Carolina is 6-10 (.375) in away games under Horn’s direction.
– Devan Downey’s 3.3 steals per game lead the league and ranks tied for first in the nation.
– In league play, Downey accounts for 43.1% (122/283) of South Carolina’s scoring.
– Freshman forward Lakeem Jackson paces Carolina in league play with 6.3 rebounds per contest.
– South Carolina averages 67.0 points per game on the road this season. Senior point guard Devan Downey leads the Gamecocks with 22.4 points per game on the road, while junior forward Sam Muldrow collects 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game in road contests.
– Downey (21.2 ppg) leads the team and the SEC in scoring. He has led or shared the team lead in scoring 14 times this season, including the last 10 games.
– Carolina’s 7.2 blocked shots per game rank second in the Southeastern Conference, behind Mississippi State’s 8.5 per contest, and sixth in the nation (as of Jan. 17 NCAA stats). Junior forward Sam Muldrow paces the Gamecocks with 3.3 blocks per game, second in the SEC and ninth in the nation.
– The Gamecocks are in their 19th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference. Carolina owns a 118-174 (.404) all-time record in SEC play. The Gamecocks are 41-105 (.280) all-time in league road games.
– Darrin Horn-led teams are 69-29 (.704) all-time in league play. Horn led Carolina to a 10-6 record in SEC action during his first year in Columbia.
– The Gamecocks own a 395-336 (.540) all-time record in the month of January. Darrin Horn led South Carolina to a 7-2 record during the first month of the year in 2009, including notable wins over then-No. 19 Baylor and then-No. 24 Kentucky – both road victories.

Star Watch
– “Star Watch” for the Florida contest falls on Gamecock point guard Devan Downey. Downey needs just 14 points to reach the 2,000-point plateau for his career, including his one-year total from Cincinnati (403).
– Downey ranks among the top five in several categories in the Carolina record book, including scoring (4th, 19.5), steals (2nd, 251) and steal average (1st, 3.09). He surpassed the 1,500-point mark in the Garnet and Black vs. LSU, and is currently three points shy of matching Mike Dunleavy (1,586) for fifth in scoring all-time in Carolina history.
– Downey has registered double figures in 17 of 18 games this season and has topped the 20-point mark nine times, including six of the last seven games, and the 30-point mark three times this season, including two of the last four games.
– If Downey continues to register three steals per game, he will near the 100-steal mark for the second time in his career. Downey holds the SEC single-season record for steals in a season with 103, which he set during the 2007-08 campaign. Downey is three steals shy of matching Tim Winn (St. Bonaventure, 319) for 21st all-time in NCAA history in career steals.
– In his Carolina career, Downey has tallied at least 15 points and four steals 28 times, including seven times this season.
– Downey enters Saturday’s game vs. Florida leading the SEC in scoring in overall games (21.2) and strictly league games (30.5). Downey averages 10.2 points better than Florida’s Erving Walker, who is second in scoring with 20.3 points per game in SEC action after pacing Florida with 27 points in its victory at Arkansas on Thursday.

By The Numbers
– 10 – Freshman forward Lakeem Jackson pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds in Wednesday’s contest at Ole Miss. It marked the first game since the Dec. 2 Western Kentucky matchup that a Gamecock registered double-figure rebounds. Jackson did it in that contest as well with 10.
– 8.8 – South Carolina averages 8.8 made 3s per game in SEC action this season – currently a league best.
– 70 – South Carolina is 9-2 when holding its opponent to under 70 points this season.

Key Stat
– South Carolina is 5-0 in games in which it hits at least 50% from the field. The Gamecocks are 4-2 when connecting on at least 40% of their attempts from beyond the arc.

Florida Series Information
– Florida holds a 35-20 advantage in the all-time series with South Carolina. The Gators also hold a 16-6 upperhand in games played in Gainesville.
– The teams split the season series last year, with each squads winning on its home court. Zam Fredrick’s heroics clinched a one-point victory for Carolina in Columbia, while Nick Calathes’ 22 points led the Gators to victory in Gainesville.
– South Carolina has not won at the Stephen F. O’Connell Center since a 71-67 victory on Feb. 6, 2006.
– Florida has won seven of the last 10 matchups between the two SEC East rivals.