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March 18, 2016

Game Information

Date: Mon., March 21, 2016

Tipoff: 9 p.m.

Location: Columbia, S.C.

Parking: $10

Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)

Tickets: GamecockOnline.com/Arena box office/$15, $4 students

Broadcast: ESPN

Radio: 107.5 (in Columbia)/Listen!

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Matchups for second-round action in the NIT have been set, and South Carolina will host Georgia Tech Monday night at Colonial Life Arena. Monday’s contest will be broadcast on ESPN with Dave Neal handling play-by-play duties alongside analyst, Dino Gaudio. The Gamecocks look to set a school record for wins in a season versus Georgia Tech.

GAMECOCK QUICK HITS

– 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 16-2 in home games this season, averaging 80.3 points per game in those contests.
– South Carolina’s nine wins away from home this season (five away, four neutral) are the most for the Gamecocks since the 2005-06 NIT championship team won 13 combined away from home (seven away, six neutral).
– The Gamecocks received votes or were ranked for 15 weeks in the USA Today Coaches Poll, rising to as high as 15th, and for a total of 14 weeks in the AP poll, rising to as high as 19th, this season.
– Frank Martin led teams are 8-5 all-time in postseason competition, including a 2-1 mark in NIT games after South Carolina’s 88-66 win vs. High Point last week in the first round of the 2016 NIT.
– The Gamecocks concluded their 25th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference in 2016 with an 11-7 record. Carolina owns a 155-253 (.379) all-time record in SEC play. The Gamecocks’ 11 wins this season in league action marked the most in SEC play since the 1997-98 squad also had 11.
– Frank Martin owns a 76-78 (.493) all-time record in conference games. The 11 SEC wins in 2016 match the highest conference wins for a team under the direction of Martin, as his 2009-10 Kansas State squad also won 11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

GAMECOCKS IN THE NIT

South Carolina’s appearance in the 2016 NIT is its 12th all-time, and the first since 2009. South Carolina owns an all-time record of 22-9 in the NIT and has won the event twice (2005, 2006) and finished as the tournament’s runner-up in 2002.

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH

– Georgia Tech enters Monday night’s contest with a 20-14 overall record, which includes an 8-10 mark in ACC games.
– Georgia Tech’s win over Houston in the first round of the NIT last week gave the Yellow Jackets their first 20-win season since the 2009-10 campaign.
– Much like the Gamecocks, Georgia Tech ranks among conference leaders in rebound margin. The Yellow Jackets out-rebounded Houston, 39-25, marking the 29th time in 34 games this season that Georgia Tech won the battle on the glass.
– Their margin of +7.4 rebounds per game ranks 23rd nationally.
– The Yellow Jackets are 4-5 in road games this season.
– Four players average double-figure points for Tech, led by Marcus Georges-Hunt with 16.7 per outing. Adam Smith (15.1), Nick Jacobs (10.6) and Charles Mitchell (10.0) also contribute double-figures.
– The Yellow Jackets are led by head coach Brian Gregory in his fifth season.

BY THE NUMBERS

11 – Carrera recorded his 11th double-double of the season vs. High Point on March 15. It’s the most double-doubles by a Gamecock in a season since Emmett Hall also had 11 during the 1993-94 campaign.
30 – Senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius tallied a career high 30 points, hitting an impressive 15-of-16 attempts from the floor in South Carolina’s 2016 NIT opening win vs. High Point.
31 – The Gamecock bench accounted for 31 points in the win vs. LSU, the most bench points scored for Carolina during the SEC campaign.
33.7 – The Gamecocks have out-scored 27 of 33 opponents this season in points in the paint, averaging
34.2 points in the paint per game. That accounts for 44.8 percent of the Gamecocks’ points scored this season.
39 – South Carolina made a season high 39 shots in the 2016 NIT opener win vs. High Point. It was the most makes in a game for Carolina since Nov. 9, 2007, when the Gamecocks also hit 39 in a win vs. South Carolina State.

SERIES VS. GEORGIA TECH

Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with South Carolina, 24-18, including a 10-8 advantage in games played in Columbia. The Gamecocks have won three of the last five meetings and the Yellow Jackets have won six of the last 10. The last meeting between the two schools came on Feb. 16, 1984.