March 10, 2010

The South Carolina men’s basketball team (15-15) will face Alabama (16-14) in the opening round of the 2010 SEC Tournament on Thursday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The contest will tip off at 1 p.m. ET on the SEC Network (WIS in the Columbia area) with Jimmy Dykes and Brad Nessler on the call. Fans can also listen to Andy Demetra and Casey Manning on the Gamecock Radio Network across the state.

GAME INFORMATION
SEC Tournament First Round

SEC Tournament Central

Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tipoff: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Bridgestone Arena
Series: Alabama leads 20-12
Television: SEC Network (To find the SEC Network in your area, click here)
Talent: Brad Nessler (pxp), Jimmy Dykes (analyst)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
(107.5 FM – Columbia/GamecocksOnline.com)
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Multimedia: ESPN360.com

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 102nd season of basketball.
– With its victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday, South Carolina earned the No. 5 seed from the East in the 2010 SEC Tournament and will play Alabama, the No. 4 seed from the West, in the opening round. The winner will face SEC Regular-Season Champion and the No. 1 seed from the East, Kentucky, in the second round.
– South Carolina is 16-18 (.470) all-time in SEC Tournament action, including 2-2 vs. Alabama.
– The Gamecocks and Crimson Tide last met in the postseason event in 2002, with Alabama collecting a 65-57 victory over Carolina in the semifinals.
– Carolina earned its second upset win over a ranked opponent this season with a 77-73 road win at No.13/19 Vanderbilt on Saturday. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Gamecocks, while also breaking a six-game road losing streak as well. n Darrin Horn-led teams are 7-5 all-time in conference tournament play. (Carolina 0-1)
– In Horn’s one-plus seasons at South Carolina, the Gamecocks are 13-11 in games following a loss.
– South Carolina ranks 10th in the nation in turnover margin (4.2 – March 8 NCAA stats).
– South Carolina was the only team in the league to defeat both Kentucky and Vanderbilt in SEC play this season.
– Devan Downey became the all-time leader in steals at South Carolina when he collected his third steal of the night vs. Alabama on March 3. Downey now has 275 career steals at South Carolina.
– Downey has scored 20 or more points 18 times this season, and has tallied 30 or more six times, including in five SEC contests.
– Downey (22.6 ppg) leads the team and the SEC in scoring in overall games this season. He has led or shared the team lead in scoring 24 times, including eight of the last 10 games. He ranks sixth in the nation in points per game. n Downey’s 2.8 steals per game lead the league and rank fourth in the nation.
– The backcourt duo of Downey and Raley-Ross average 33.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.8 steals per contest in overall games this season.
– Carolina’s 6.1 blocked shots per game rank third in the SEC in overall games, behind Mississippi State’s 7.7 and Kentucky’s 7.4, and 11th in the nation. Junior forward Sam Muldrow paces the Gamecocks with 3.1 blocks per game, second in the SEC and 12th in the nation.
– Sam Muldrow’s 92 blocks are the third-most in a single season in Carolina history and the most since Brandon Wallace had 86 blocks during the 2006-07 campaign. Only Danny Traylor during the 1971-72 (122) and the 1972-23 (113) seasons had more in a single season.
– South Carolina concluded the regular season with a 2-9 record in away games, with wins coming in its SEC opener at Auburn on Jan. 9 and its SEC finale at Vanderbilt on March 6.
– South Carolina holds a +13.6 scoring margin in games it has won this season.
– Carolina is 12-6 this season in games in which it scores at least 70 points.
– South Carolina has played three neutral site games this season, holding a 2-1 record in those contests. All three matchups came at the Charleston Classic in late November, as Carolina defeated LaSalle and USF before falling to Miami (Fla.) in the tournament final.
– Darrin Horn-led teams are 14-10 (.538) all-time in neutral site games. The Gamecocks are 2-2 under Horn’s direction in neutral site contests.
– The Gamecocks concluded their 19th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference with a 6-10 record. Carolina owns an all-time mark of 122-182 (.401) all-time record in SEC play.
– Following the 2010 SEC campaign, Darrin Horn-led teams are 73-37 (.664) all-time in league play. Horn led Carolina to a 10-6 record in SEC action during his first year in Columbia.
– South Carolina is 94-110 (.461) in games played in the month of March. In those games, Carolina is 12-18 (.400) in SEC regular-season games, 16-18 (.470) in SEC Tournament games, 4-9 in the NCAA Tournament and 21-9 in the NIT.

SEC Season Wrapup
– South Carolina concluded the 2010 SEC season with a 6-10 record. It marked the 10th time that the Gamecocks have collected at least six wins in league play.
– South Carolina has collected 16 victories over the course of the last two SEC seasons. It marks the highest total in back-to-back league campaigns since the combination of the 1997 and 1998 seasons (26) and is the third highest total ever in back-to-back SEC seasons (1996+97, 23 wins; 1997+98, 26 wins).

Vanderbilt Notables
– South Carolina snapped a six-game losing streak with its victory at Vanderbilt on Saturday.
– The win evened the all-time series between the two schools 23-23. It was South Carolina’s first win at Memorial Gymnasium since a 66-64 overtime win on Jan. 18, 2006.
– South Carolina’s 49.1% from the field was its highest shooting percentage since hitting 51.8% of its attempts in a 78-77 win over Georgia on Jan. 30 – a span of 10 games.
– Carolina’s 58.6 field goal percentage in the second half was its second highest in the final 20 minutes of action in SEC play this season (vs. Georgia, 62.5%).
– Carolina held an advantage in every specialty stat category except bench points. The Gamecocks held a 16-11 upperhand in points off turnovers, a 13-9 advantage in second chance points and a 9-2 upperhand in fast break points.
– Sam Muldrow had five of South Carolina’s 11 made baskets in the first half, while Devan Downey had eight of Carolina’s 17 made buckets in the second half.
– A 16-0 run in the second half was key to the Gamecock victory. In that run, Devan Downey accounted for 10 points.

By The Numbers
– 22 – Devan Downey scored 22 of his 26 points vs. Vanderbilt on Saturday in the second half. It was the second-highest total in a single half for Downey this season. He scored 23 points in the second half at Auburn in the SEC opener on Jan. 9. He finished that contest with 33 points.
– 5 – South Carolina out-rebounded Vanderbilt by five (33-28) on Saturday. It marked the first time Carolina out-rebounded its opponent since collecting four more than Kentucky on Jan. 26. It was just the third time in SEC play and the eighth time all season that Carolina collected more rebounds than its opponent. South Carolina is 8-0 in those games.
– 19.8 – Freshmen Lakeem Jackson and Ramon Galloway have combined to average 19.8 points over the last five games. Jackson has collected three double-figure scoring games, while Galloway has posted two during the stretch.
– 23.3 – In three career games vs. Alabama, Devan Downey averages 23.3 points per contest. He hit that mark with 23 points vs. the Crimson Tide in the 2010 regular-season meeting between the two schools on March 3.
– 9 – Sam Muldrow has collected nine rebounds on three different occassions this season. Muldrow has led Carolina in rebounding 16 times this season, including seven of the last 10 contests. Muldrow has three double-figure rebounding games this season and one double-double.
– 9 – Muldrow scored nine of South Carolina’s final 13 points in the first half vs. Vanderbilt on Saturday.