Oct. 29, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Led by first-year head coach Frank Martin, the South Carolina men’s basketball team will host Kentucky Wesleyan in the team’s lone exhibition contest of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. from Colonial Life Arena. The game will not be televised, but will be available via web-stream on GamecocksOnline.com. Below are game details and preseason notes.

OPENING TIP
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012
Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena
Regular-Season Series: Series is tied, 1-1
Television: None
Radio: None
Tickets: Admission is free
Live Stats/Free Live Video: GamecocksOnline.com
** there will be a $5 charge for parking for the exhibition

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 105th season of basketball.
– The Gamecocks are led by first-year head coach Frank Martin. His associate head coach is Brad Underwood and his assistant coaches are Matt Figger and Lamont Evans. Andy Assaley is the director of basketball operations.
– South Carolina returns nine letterwinners from last year’s squad, including senior forward Lakeem Jackson, the lone returning senior.
– For the fifth-consecutive season, South Carolina will open its campaign with an exhibition contest against Kentucky Wesleyan. The Gamecocks defeated the Panthers 75-55 during the 2008-09 campaign, earned a 78-55 win in 2009-10, collected a 71-58 victory over KWC to open the 2010-11 campaign and posted a 69-59 win vs. the Panthers last season.
– The Gamecocks welcome four newcomers to their squad this all. Laimonas Chatkevicius (Fr., 6-11, F), Mindaugas Kacinas (Fr., 6-7, F), Michael Carrera (Fr., 6-5, F) and LaShay Page (Sr., 6-2, G) will don the Garnet and Black this fall. Page is a one-year transfer from Southern Mississippi.
– South Carolina returns 80.3 percent of its 3-point field goals from last season. Returners combined to hit 164 of the 204 attempts from beyond the arc last year.
– Entering Tuesday’s exhibition, sophomore guard Damien Leonard is the top returning scorer with 6.8 points per game last season. Junior guard Bruce Ellington led all returners with 11.0 points per game, but Ellington will not join the basketball squad until the end of the football season.
– South Carolina released its non-conference schedule in September. In the non-conference portion of its schedule, the Gamecocks will take part in three events, including the Hoops for Hope Classic with games in Columbia and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the annual SEC/BIG EAST Challenge, as well as the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. The latter two will see the Gamecocks travel to New York City.
– South Carolina opens the regular season hosting UW-Milwaukee on Nov. 11. The game will start at 3 p.m. and be televised on FSN.

Scouting Kentucky Wesleyan
– The Panthers are led by head coach Todd Lee in his eighth season. KWC is an eight-time Division II National Champion, most recently in 2001. The team posted an 89-87 victory in an exhibition vs. Georgetown (Ky.), last week with newcomer Rico Ferguson posting the winning layup with just 3.1 seconds on the clock. Five players posted double-figure points in the contest, led by Dominique Dawson’s 15 points. The Panthers posted a 23-8 record last season and tied for third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division. The team began last season on a 14-game win streak.