Feb. 25, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina travels to Auburn Wednesday night in the team’s second matchup this season, with the Tigers winning 79-74 in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2014. Wednesday’s contest will broadcast on FSN.

OPENING TIP
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014
Tipoff: 9 p.m. ET
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Arena: Auburn Arena (9,121)
Series: Auburn leads 21-14
Last Meeting: Auburn win, 79-74, on Jan. 5, 2014 in Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena)
Broadcast: FSN
Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Larry Conley (analyst)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network/107.5 The Game in Columbia
Sirius: N/A; XM: N/A
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Game Notes | | @GamecockMBB on Twitter | Tickets

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 106th season of basketball.
– The Gamecocks are led by Frank Martin in his second year. Matt Figger is the associate head coach, and Perry Clark and Lamont Evans are assistant coaches. Andy Assaley is in his second year as the director of operations for the Gamecocks.
– The Gamecocks are in their 23rd season of competition in the Southeastern Conference in 2014. Carolina owns a 135-232 (.368) all-time record in SEC play.
– Frank Martin owns a 56-57 (.466) all-time record in conference play.
– After being tied at the half with Georgia at 34-34 on Saturday, South Carolina went more than nine minutes without a field goal to start the second half and fell 73-56. Freshman guard Sindarius Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 18 points, while senior guard Brenton Williams added 16.
– Despite overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit late in the second half, South Carolina was unable to claim a lead in the final 20 minutes as they fell 71-64 at Arkansas. The Gamecocks countered the frenetic play with the hot-shooting of Williams who hit a career-high 11 field goals as he scored 29 points, going 6-of-13 from 3.
– For the first time since January of 2011, South Carolina won back-to-back conference games as the team topped Alabama 67-66. With the Crimson Tide battling back behind 25 second-half points from Trevor Releford to grab the lead, Thornwell led the charge for the Gamecocks, scoring or assisting on 15 of Carolina’s final 17 points, including hitting two free throws to ice the game with five seconds left. The freshman led the Gamecocks with 22 points.
– For his efforts on the week, Thornwell was named Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 20.5 points, five rebounds and five assists in two games. It was his second Freshman of the Week honor from the conference this season, and first national honor.
– Despite being located in an area which sees little to no snowfall annually, South Carolina is 3-0 this season when there is snow on the ground in Columbia. (Jan. 29, Texas A&M; Feb. 13, Vanderbilt; Feb. 15, Alabama)
– In its second game of the season which took place with campus closed due to winter weather, the Gamecocks moved to 2-0 in such games, topping Vanderbilt last Thursday night, 65-59, after the contest was postponed for 20 hours after the original scheduled time. Thornwell led South Carolina with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
– Against the Commodores, the Gamecocks grabbed a season-high 26 offensive rebounds en route to a 23-9 advantage in second-chance points. Five Carolina players recorded at least three offensive boards.
– Carolina’s game vs. Vanderbilt was the 2,500th game in program history.
– A 23-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome as South Carolina was defeated 72-53 by Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena. Thornwell scored the Gamecocks first seven points and finished the day with a team-high 15 points and four steals.
– After allowing Auburn to go on a 16-2 run early in the second half, the Gamecocks stormed back with an 18-2 run to level the game with under eight minutes to play, but the Gamecocks were unable to slow the Tigers down the stretch as they fell 79-74 at Colonial Life Arena. Williams led all scorers with 29 points on a season high 10 field goals, going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Despite only scoring eight points, Thornwell posted season highs in assists (9) and steals (4). Sophomore forward Mindaugas Kacinas added a season high 14 points and freshman guard Duane Notice chipped in 12 points.

Scouting Auburn
Auburn enters Wednesday’s matchup with a 12-13 overall record, which includes a 4-10 mark in SEC games … The Tigers are 11-5 at Auburn Arena this season, and 3-4 at home in SEC play … Auburn is led by one of the nation’s top scoring duos in Chris Denson (20.3) and KT Harrell (18.7) which averages a combined 39 points … Denson leads the conference in scoring, while Harrell ranks sixth … Against South Carolina on Feb. 5, the two each scored 25 points … Asauhn Dixon-Tatum protects the rim for the Tigers, ranking fourth in the SEC in blocked shots with two per game.

Auburn Series
Wednesday’s meeting vs. Auburn marks the 36th all-time meeting between the two schools … The Tigers won the last meeting, 79-79, on Feb. 5, 2014, at Colonial Life Arena in Columba, S.C. … Auburn leads the all-time series 21-14 … The two teams had split the previous 10 meetings prior this season.

By The Numbers
2 – In SEC games, Sindarius Thornwell leads all freshmen in three categories: scoring (16.6) and assists (4.21).
3 – Since starting the conference season 0-6, South Carolina has won 3 games in the last eight.
4 – Senior guard Brenton Williams has hit at least four 3s in seven of 14 SEC games this season.
5 – The Gamecocks have won five of 14 games when the scoring margin is 10 points or less.
7 – Sophomore guard Michael Carrera has led Carolina in rebounding in seven of the last 1o games.
11 – Thornwell has recorded double-figures in 11 of 14 SEC games, including five with 20-plus points, tying B.J. McKie for the most by a South Carolina freshman in SEC games.
17 – Williams has recorded double-figures in 17 of his last 19 games.
36.2 – Since the injury to Tyrone Johnson on Jan. 15, Thornwell and Williams have stepped up their scoring numbers. The duo is averaging a combined 36.2 points in the last 11 games, 8.1 points above their combined season average.
40 – Thornwell became first South Carolina player to play all forty minutes in a game since Devan Downey vs. Tennessee on March 14, 2008.
96.4 – Williams has hit 80-of-83 free throws this season, which ranks No. 1 in the nation, 2.6 percent better than second.

Up Next
The Gamecocks are back home on Saturday night for their only meeting of the season with Kentucky. Game time is set for 6 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.