Men's Basketball . January 2, 2018

Gamecocks Open Two-Game Homestand Hosting Missouri Wednesday Night

Jan. 2, 2018

South Carolina vs. Missouri

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina begins a two-game homestand when it hosts Missouri on Wednesday in the SEC home opener at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks look to even their SEC record, after suffering a 74-69 loss on the road at Ole Miss on Sunday in the league opener.

STARTING FIVE

> South Carolina suffered a 74-69 loss at Ole Miss last Sunday in the SEC opener for both schools. The Gamecocks hit just 37.9 percent (22-58) from the field in the contest, and committed 14 turnovers which resulted in 16 Rebel points.
> Graduate student guard Frank Booker scored a season high 21 points behind a career high six 3s in the matchup at Ole Miss. He also matched a season high with 34 minutes of action.
> Junior forward Chris Silva notched his fourth double-double of the season at Ole Miss, scoring 21 points and matching a personal best with 13 rebounds. Silva, who ranks 22nd nationally with 105 free throw attempts on the year, was 11-of-14 from the line vs. the Rebels, including 7-of-10 from the stripe in the opening half.
> Graduate student guard Wesley Myers earned his first start of the season at Ole Miss. He dished a team high five assists vs. the Rebels, after collecting a career high six in Carolina’s win over Limestone on Dec. 27. Myers is averaging 1.8 assists per game this season.
> South Carolina ranks 33rd nationally and fourth in the SEC with a rebound margin of +7.2 on the year. Carolina has out-rebounded 10 of 14 opponents this season. Wednesday’s matchup will be a battle on the boards, as Missouri ranks 11th nationally and second in the SEC in the category with a margin of +9.4.

HEADLINES

> South Carolina is in its 110th season of varsity basketball in 2017-18.
> South Carolina advanced to its first Final Four in 2016-17, which included posting its first NCAA Tournament win since the 1973 campaign when it tallied a 93-73 win over Marquette in the First Round.
> The Gamecocks finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 26-11 overall record. The 26 wins were a program record.
> Among active Division I head coaches, South Carolina’s Frank Martin holds the sixth-highest NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.667) behind only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Kansas’ Bill Self.
> Over the course of the last three seasons (2015-16-present), the Gamecocks are 24-18 (.571) combined in games played away from home (away/neutral).
> South Carolina compiled 51 wins over the course of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
> Entering the 2017-18 campaign, Frank Martin has led his team to at least 20 wins in seven of 10 seasons.
> South Carolina played six of its first seven games away from home to begin the 2017-18 campaign, posting a 4-2 record during the stretch.
> Martin is joined on the bench by assistant coaches Perry Clark (fifth season), Chuck Martin (first season) and Bruce Shingler (second season), and director of basketball operations Andy Assaley in his sixth season.
> Clark brings 19 years of head coaching experience to the bench, as he served the combined years as head coach at Tulane, Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, while Chuck Martin served as head coach at Marist for five campaigns.
> Martin is 88-85 (.508) all-time in league play. In his 10 seasons leading a squad through league play, his team has posted double-digit league wins six times.
> South Carolina has improved its conference record in each of Frank Martin’s five seasons leading the squad through the SEC slate. In his first SEC campaign (2013), Martin led his squad to four wins, followed by five win sin 2014, six in 2015, 11 in 2016 and 12 last season.
> South Carolina is in its 26th basketball season as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Gamecocks are 167-260 (.391) all-time in SEC games.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS

> South Carolina enters Wednesday’s matchup with the Tigers with a 9-4 overall record, and an 0-1 mark in league games after the 74-69 loss at Ole Miss on New Year’s Eve.
> Despite the loss, the Gamecocks out-rebounded Ole Miss 43-30, and held the Rebels to just four offensive rebounds (two team rebounds). Ole Miss tallied just two second-chance points in the contest.
> Junior forward Chris Silva paces the Gamecocks and ranks among SEC leaders in multiple statistical categories: leads Carolina with 13.4 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game (fourth in the SEC). He is also Carolina’s field goal percent leader, hitting 50.0 percent from the floor this season.
> Silva collected his fourth double-double of the season and the ninth of his career with 21 points and a game high 13 rebounds at Ole Miss.
> Frank Booker continues to impress from beyond the arc and fill the void left by just 6.4 percent of returning 3-point baskets for Carolina from last season. Booker hit a career best six 3s at Ole Miss, marking the ninth time this season he has connected on at least three 3s in a game.
> Behind five from graduate student guard Wes Myers, the Gamecocks dished 16 assists against the Rebels. It marked the fifth game of the season with 15 or more assists for Carolina.
> The Gamecocks are 5-0 at home this season, averaging 77.6 points per game in those contests, hitting 44.8 percent from the field.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

> Missouri is 10-3 on the season and Wednesday’s contest against South Carolina marks the Tigers’ first SEC contest of the year.
> The Tigers are led by head coach Cuonzo Martin in his first season, but not his first season in the SEC, as he was the head coach at Tennessee from 2011-14, before spending three seasons as the head coach at Cal.
> Three average double-figure points for the Tigers, led by graduate student guard Kassius Robertson’s 15.1 per game. Jordan Barnett (14.8) and Kevin Puryear (10.2) also provide double-figures.
> Missouri most recently played on Dec. 23, suffering a 70-64 loss to Illinois in St. Louis. Robertson led the Tigers with 22 points in that contest, while Barnett collected his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
> The Tigers rank among conference leaders in several statistical categories, including scoring defense (4th, 66.5), field goal percent defense (3rd, 39.4%) and rebound margin (2nd, +9.4)
> Missouri is 1-1 in away contests this season, and 3-3 overall in games away from home.

THE SERIES

> The all-time series vs. Missouri is tied at 4-4.
> Carolina holds a 2-1 advantage in home games and has won two straight at Colonial Life Arena.

BY THE NUMBERS

8+ – South Carolina has posted at least eight made 3-pointers in 10 of 13 games this season.
+9.0 – Carolina holds a +9.0 rebound margin over its opponent in home games this season.
10+ – Chris Silva has five games with at least 10 rebounds this season. Last season, the Libreville, Gabon, native had six double-digit rebound performances, including a career high 13 rebounds in the Final Four matchup vs. Gonzaga.
10 – Junior forward Chris Silva is just 10 blocks away from cracking the Gamecock career top-10 in the category. He is just two blocks away from reaching 100 for his career.
36 – Grad transfer guard Frank Booker has 36 3s on the year, which is a team high. He has hit at least three 3s in nine of Carolina’s 13 games this season and is averaging 43.4 percent from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT

> South Carolina continues its homestand when Vanderbilt travels to Columbia for a 6:45 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday. Mike Morgan (pxp) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) will have the call for the SEC Network broadcast.