Feb. 21, 2011

The South Carolina men’s basketball team (13-12, 4-8 SEC) is set to host Ole Miss (17-10, 5-7 SEC) on Tuesday in SEC men’s basketball action at Colonial Life Arena. Tip time is set for 7 p.m., with the contest to be televised on ESPNU with Rob Stone and Jay Williams on the call.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Series: Series is tied 13-13
Television: ESPNU (check local listings)
Talent: Rob Stone (pxp), Jay Williams (analyst);
Tom Scofield (producer)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
(107.5 FM – Columbia/GamecocksOnline.com)
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Multimedia: ESPN3.com
Tickets: Tickets are available via the Gamecock Ticket Office (1-800-4SC-FANS)

Game Notes vs. Ole Miss | Find The Gamecocks On TV

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 103rd season of basketball.
– Redshirt-junior forward Malik Cooke scored a career-best 22 points at Tennessee last Wednesday and added 12 points at Kentucky on Saturday. He has led the Gamecocks in scoring in each of the last three games.
– Freshman point guard Bruce Ellington dished five assists vs. Kentucky on Saturday. It was the most assists for Ellington since also collecting five vs. Ohio State on Dec. 18.
– Freshman guard Eric Smith scored a season high eight points vs. Kentucky.
– Muldrow became the all-time leader in South Carolina history with his four blocks vs. Georgia on Feb. 12. Muldrow now has 257 career blocks, which surpassed the previous high-water mark of 249 set by Brandon Wallace during the 2006-07 campaign.
– Ellington has seven 20-point games this season and one 30-point contest (at Furman).
– South Carolina ranks first in the SEC in overall games with 14.4 offensive rebounds per game.
– South Carolina ranks third in the nation (Feb. 21 NCAA stats) and first in the SEC in blocked shots per game with 6.4 per outing. Muldrow ranks first in the SEC and fifth in the nation in blocks per game (3.4).
– The Gamecocks are 10-0 this season when leading at the halftime break.
– In league play, the combination of Ellington, Muldrow, Galloway and Cooke account for 46.0 points per game, 71.5% of South Carolina’s offensive production.
– In home games, South Carolina has held its opponent to under 41% shooting in nine of 15 contests.
– Senior forward Sam Muldrow recorded just the second triple-double in school history in the SEC opener win over No. 22/24 Vanderbilt, scoring 16 points, collecting a team-high 14 rebounds and blocking a career high 10 shots. It marked just the 21st triple-double in SEC history and the 11th all-time involving blocked shots.
– South Carolina is 428-432-1 (.497) all-time in the month of February.

Star Watch – Muldrow Claims South Carolina Blocked Shots Record
– Senior forward Sam Muldrow surpassed Brandon Wallace (249) for first place in South Carolina history in career blocked shots on Feb. 12 vs. Georgia.
– With his second block of the contest, which came with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, on a missed dunk by UGA’s Chris Barnes, Muldrow matched the standing block record of 249.
– Muldrow claimed the record with a block, again on a shot attempt by Barnes, with 8:17 remaining in the contest to take over the all-time lead in the category.
– Muldrow enters Tuesday’s contest vs. Ole Miss with 257 career blocks. He is the SEC’s active career leader in blocked shots, and now ranks in the SEC Top 10 in the category.

Among Freshman In The SEC
– In overall games … Bruce Ellington ranks fifth in points per game (13.6), fourth in rebounding (3.5), third in assists (3.4) and fifth in steals (1.0) … Damontre Harris ranks third in field goal percentage (56.7%) and third in blocks per game (0.9).

Scouting Ole Miss
– Ole Miss enters Tuesday’s contest having won four of its last six games, but most recently suffering a 71-58 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday.
– The Rebels are currently tied for third in the SEC West with Arkansas with a 5-7 mark in league play.
– Senior guard Chris Warren averages 18.2 points per game in overall games this season, trailing only Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins in the category.
– Sophomore forward Reginald Buckner collectes a team best 6.6 rebounds per contest and blocks 3.1 shots per game. He ranks 15th and third, respectively, in the SEC in the two categories.
– Ole Miss ranks first in the SEC in free throw percentage (75.3%), third in scoring offense (74.4) and fourth in blocked shots (5.6 per game).

Ole Miss Series Information
– The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 13-13 entering Tuesday’s contest in Columbia. South Carolina holds an 8-1 edge in games played in Columbia.
– Over the course of the last 10 meetings between the two schools, each team has won five times.
– UM’s lone win in Columbia came in a 67-61 victory on Feb. 17, 2001. The Rebels were ranked 16th in the nation for that game. South Carolina shot a stellar 55.0% in the contest, hitting 22-of-40 shot attempts.
– Ole Miss collected a 66-57 win in Oxford last season behind four Rebels in double-figures, including a team-high 17 points from then-junior point guard Chris Warren. Ole Miss used a late 11-3 run to clinch the victory.

By The Numbers
– 49 – Redshirt-junior forward Malik Cooke has scored 49 points over the course of the last three games, including a career high 22 points vs. Tennessee last Wednesday. During the stretch, Cooke has shot 50.0%, hitting 17-of-34 shot attempts.
– 51 – Senior forward Sam Muldrow has 51 blocks during conference play this season, an average of 4.3 blocks per game. His 51 blocks in league play are more than six SEC schools – Tennessee (50), Vanderbilt (48), Mississippi State (45), Florida (42), LSU (40) and Auburn (27).
– 0 – Over the course of the last two seasons (56 games), Sam Muldrow has recorded at least one block in 51 of those contets. For just the third time this season, Muldrow did not block a shot vs. Kentucky.