Feb. 23, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina looks to even the season series vs. Tennessee on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena, as the Vols posted a 78-69 victory in Knoxville in late January. The Gamecocks are fresh off an overtime victory over Florida last Saturday, and sit in second place in the SEC standings entering Wednesday’s matchup.

GAME STORYLINES

– South Carolina is in its 108th season of varsity basketball in 2015-16.
– Carolina is led by fourth-year head coach Frank Martin. Alongside him are associate head coach Matt Figger, assistant coaches Perry Clark and Lamont Evans and director of men’s hoops operations, Andy Assaley.
– South Carolina is receiving votes in both the Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll and in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 Poll this week. The Gamecocks have been receiving votes or have been ranked for the past 13 weeks in the Coaches Poll, rising to as high as 15th, and also for 13 straight weeks in the AP poll, rising to as high as 19th.
– The Gamecocks broke a seven-game Florida win streak in the series between the two schools with a 73-69 overtime thriller vs. the Gators at Colonial Life Arena last Saturday. The win improved the Gamecocks to 22-5 on the season, their most regular-season wins since the 1996-97 campaign. Senior forward Michael Carrera once again led the offensive charge for Carolina, pacing four in double figures with a game high 20 points. Carrera also pulled down 15 rebounds to mark his ninth double-double of the year.
– With his 20-point, 15-rebound effort vs. Florida, Carrera becomes the first Gamecock to post multiple 20-point, 15-rebound performances in a season since Jimmy Foster hit the mark three times during the 1983-84 campaign.
– The Gamecocks are 4-1 this season in games decided by five points or less.
– Through 14 league games, Sindarius Thornwell and Michael Carrera have led the Gamecocks in scoring in all but one SEC game, Carrera leading the Gamecocks in scoring seven times, and Thornwell six.
– South Carolina is 31st in the most recent NCAA RPI (Feb. 23), and the Gamecocks are 8-3 against teams in the top 100 of the RPI.
– The Gamecocks are in their 25th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference in 2016. Carolina owns a 153-251 (.378) all-time record in SEC play.
– Frank Martin owns a 74-76 (.493) all-time record in conference games.
– Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas was named CoSIDA Academic All-District on Feb. 11, as he holds above a 3.3 cumulative GPA. The honor is the first of his career, and Kacinas now moves onto the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.

GAMECOCKS IN THE POLLS

South Carolina is receiving votes in both the Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll and in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 Poll this week. The Gamecocks have been receiving votes or have been ranked for the past 13 weeks in the Coaches Poll, rising to as high as 15th, and also for 13 straight weeks in the AP poll, rising to as high as 19th.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE

– The Vols enter Wednesday’s contest with a 13-14 overall record, which includes a 6-8 mark in SEC games.
– Tennessee is 1-9 in away games this season, the lone win coming in a 80-75 win at Mississippi State on Jan. 16.
– In its last game, Tennessee posted an 81-65 win over LSU in Knoxville. Senior forward Armani Moore led the Vols with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guard Robert Hubbs III posted a team high 19 points in the win.
– Versus LSU, UT shot 49.2 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Tigers 42-35.
– Senior guard Kevin Punter ranks second in the SEC in scoring with 22.2 points per game in overall games this season, however, he missed the LSU contest due to a foot injury and is listed as day-to-day entering Wednesday’s matchup.
– The Vols lead the SEC and rank 32nd nationally in fewest turnovers per game (11.0 tpg).
– Moore (11.8) and Hubbs (11.2) also score in double-figures in overall games this season.
– UT is led by head coach Rick Barnes in his first season in Knoxville.

UP NEXT

South Carolina travels to Mississippi State on Saturday in the second meeting between the two schools this season. The Gamecocks posted an 84-74 win over the Bulldogs in Columbia on Jan. 26 behind a career high 34 points from senior forward Michael Carrera. Game time in Starkville is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.

BY THE NUMBERS

10 – The Gamecocks committed just 10 turnovers in the win vs. Florida. It was the second-fewest turnovers in a game during SEC play this season for Carolina.
8 – Junior guard Duane Notice matched a career high with eight assists in the win vs. Florida. It marked the 14th time this season a Gamecock player has had five or more assists in a game.
44 – Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell played a team high 44 minutes in the win vs. Florida, a new career high.
18,000 – The contest vs. Florida marked the third sellout this season, and also marked the first time that the Colonial Life Arena has been sold out three times in one season for men’s basketball.
32 – Junior guard Duane Notice is just 32 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career. When he reaches the mark, he’ll be the third Gamecock this season to reach the career milestone – junior guard Sindarius Thornwell tallied his 1,000th career point vs. Vandy on Jan. 9, and senior forward Michael Carrera reached the mark vs. Texas A&M on Feb. 6.
7 – Senior forward Michael Carrera is one of just seven Gamecocks all-time to reach 1,000 points and at least 700 rebounds.
17.0/9.1 – Senior forward Michael Carrera ranks seventh in the league in strictly league games with 17.0 points per game, and third with 9.1 rebounds per game.
33.6 – The Gamecocks have out-scored 23 of 27 opponents this season in points in the paint, averaging 33.6 points in the paint per game. That accounts for 43.7 percent of the Gamecocks’ points scored this season.

SERIES VS. TENNESSEE

UT leads the all-time series with South Carolina 42-24, but the series is tied at 14-14 in games played in Columbia. The Vols have won nine of the last 10 meetings, and 17 of the last 20. The last Carolina home win vs. UT came in an 81-64 victory on Feb. 17, 2007.