Gamecocks Face Wichita State Tuesday In Cancun

CANCUN – South Carolina (4-1) continues action in the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday when it faces Wichita State (5-0) at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun at 6 p.m. ET.  The matchup, which marks the first meeting between the two schools, will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network along with the Gamecock Radio Network.

TIPOFF NOTABLES
> South Carolina will play its first contests away from home this season when action gets underway in the Cancun Challenge from the Hard Rock Riviera Maya in Cancun on Tuesday night.  The Gamecocks are 24-15 all-time in neutral-site contests under the direction of Frank Martin entering this week’s action.
> The Gamecocks rebounded from their first loss of the season to post a 74-69 hardfought win over visiting Gardner-Webb last Friday at Colonial Life Arena.  Five were in double-figures for the Gamecocks, led by rookie guard Jermaine Couisnard and sophomore guard AJ Lawson’s 16 points each.  Senior forward Maik Kotsar (11), junior Jair Bolden (10) and sophomore Alanzo Frink (10) were also in double figures.  It was the first time this season that five Gamecocks have reached double figures in a game.
> Carolina committed just seven turnovers in the win over Gardner-Webb.  It was the fewest this season, and tied for the fifth-fewest under the direction of head coach Frank Martin.
> Senior forward Maik Kotsar recorded the 500th rebound of his career in the win over Gardner-Webb on Nov. 22.  Of his 503 career boards, 194 of those – 38.5 percent – are offensive rebounds.  The senior big had a crucial offensive rebound tip-out in the win over Gardner-Webb with just 21 seconds remaining and the Gamecocks up two.  Junior guard Jair Bolden collected the tip-out, and sank a free throw to push the Gamecock lead to three points with 15 seconds to play.
> Despite three Gamecocks in double-figures, including a game-high 22 points from sophomore guard AJ Lawson, Boston U posted a 78-70 win over Carolina on Nov. 19 at Colonial Life Arena.  The Terriers connected on nine made 3-pointers, and hit an opponent season high 42.2% (27-64) from the floor.
> Sophomore guard AJ Lawson hit seven buckets, including a pair of 3s, and was a career best 12-of-13 at the foul line to post a new career high 28 points in leading the Gamecocks over Cleveland State on Nov. 15 at Colonial Life Arena.  Classmate Alanzo Frink posted the first double-double of his career as well, scoring 11 with 10 boards, including eight on the offensive glass.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP FROM KOTSAR
> Senior forward Maik Kotsar has played great basketball to start the season.  Kotsar is such a strong component for the Gamecocks on the defensive end, but of late, his offense and rebounding have been key.  He’s recorded double-figures in each of the last two outings, and is also tied for the team lead at 6.0 rebounds per game.  

SCOUTING THE SHOCKERS
> Wichita State is led by South Carolina native Gregg Marshall.  Marshall, who was the head coach at Winthrop prior to WSU, is in his 13th season.
> The Shockers posted a 68-59 win over Oral Roberts on Saturday, led by 14 points from both Trey Wade and Jamarius Burton.  
> Wade paces WSU with 12.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game through the first five contests of the season.
> Wichita State has taken care of the basketball, averaging only 9.6 turnovers per outing.  
> Erik Stevenson leads the team with 18 assists on the year.  He had nine of those assists in Saturday’s win over Oral Roberts.

FRANK AND HUGGS
> Friendship and family describes the relationship between Gamecock head coach Frank Martin and West Virginia’s head man, Bob Huggins.  The two first met in 1990, Martin was an assistant at Miami Senior High School, and Huggins, then the head coach at Cincinnati, was recruiting Cesar Portillo from Miami Senior.  Martin joined Huggins’ staff at Cincinnati prior to the 2004-05 campaign, and then joined Huggins at Kansas State for the 2006-07 season.  The duo has faced eachother just one time as head coaches, when Martin’s K-State squad met the Mountaineers in a neutral-site meeting on Dec. 8, 2011, in Wichita, Kan.  In the game prior, Martin had recorded his 100th victory as a college head coach, and Huggins presented him with a game ball commemorating the achievement.  Huggins’ squad had the edge that day, as WVa hit a 3 at the end of regulation to tie the contest.  The teams would battle into overtime, trading baskets in the first five-minute period, which forced the deciding second OT, when the Mountaineers scored the game’s final five points for the 85-80 win.

CANCUN CHALLENGE CONNECTIONS
> There are a ton of Gamecock connections in Cancun.  Several of Carolina’s staff members were also on Huggins’ Cincinnati and Kansas State staffs, including strength coach Scott Greenawalt and Director of Operations Andy Assaley.   
> West Virginia video coordinator Ryan McIntyre served as a graduate student manager for the Gamecocks during their historic 2016-17 Final Four season.
> Former Gamecock manager Griffin Markland is now a graduate assistant at Gardner-Webb.
> Another connection is between Gamecock head coach Frank Martin and West Virginia assistant coach Ron Everheart.  Everheart was the head coach at Northeastern from 2001-06 and hired Martin as an assistant coach in 2000, giving Martin his start in college basketball.  Everheart would go on to be the head coach at Duquesne from 2006-12, and has been an assistant with Huggins for the past seven seasons.

NOTES TO KNOW
> South Carolina is led by eighth-year head coach Frank Martin.  Martin, the 2017 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, owns a 250-161 record in his 13th season as a head coach, and a 133-107 record in his eighth season at Carolina.
> Joining Martin on the sidelines is a veteran staff, including assistant coaches Perry Clark (seventh season), Chuck Martin (third season) and Bruce Shingler (fourth season), director of basketball operations Andy Assaley (eighth season) and strength and conditioning coach Scott Greenawalt (eighth season), and several support staff members.
> South Carolina returns a core group from last season’s squad, while welcoming seven newcomers to Columbia, including five freshmen – Trey Anderson, Jalyn McCreary, Trae Hannibal, Wildens Leveque and Mike Green, transfer Seventh Woods (North Carolina/not eligible this season due to NCAA transfer rules) and graduate transfer Micaiah Henry (Tennessee Tech/immediately eligible).
> Carolina’s top returning scorer, and 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team honoree, is sophomore guard AJ Lawson, who scored 13.4 points per outing last season, while dishing 2.9 assists per game.  Over the summer, Lawson competed for Team Canada at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece, leading the Canadians with 16.7 points per outing, including an event-high 31 points vs. Senegal.
> The Gamecocks lost two starters to injury early last season in sophomore guard Justin Minaya (missed final 27 games of the season) and rookie guard TJ Moss (missed 25 games last season); the duo have both fully recovered and are back on the court for the Garnet and Black.
> R-junior guard Jair Bolden, who was unable to play last season due to NCAA transfer rules (transferred in the summer of 2018 after playing two seasons at George Washington), will bring veteran leadership and proven scoring ability to the court this season for Carolina, as the Brooklyn, N.Y., native averaged 11.2 points per game as a sophomore for the Colonials, while also pacing the team with 98 assists on the season.
> In non-conference play, Carolina will host five-straight matchups to start the campaign, before traveling to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge, where matchups against Wichita State, and either West Virginia or Northern Iowa await.  In December, the Gamecocks host George Washington,  before a matchup at UMass, followed by a home contest against Houston and consecutive road games at Clemson and Virginia.
> In SEC action, the Gamecocks open league play on Jan. 7 at Colonial Life Arena against No. 6/6 Florida, while also hosting No. 2/2 Kentucky, No. 22/24 LSU, and No. -/25 Tennessee in conference play (rankings listed are preseason).
> Carolina recently announced it will add throwback uniforms to its lineup for game attire this upcoming season.  Fans can get their first glimpse of the throwback uniforms when the Gamecocks host Houston on Dec. 8 at Colonial Life Arena.
> South Carolina returns 43.9 percent of scoring from a year ago, 48.3 percent of its made field goals, and 45.7 percent of its rebounding, following the graduation of All-SEC forward Chris Silva, who led the Gamecocks with 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and 150 made field goals last season.
> Sophomore guard AJ Lawson is Carolina’s top returning scorer after contributing 13.4 points per outing last season.  Lawson, who was named to the Jerry West Award Watch List last month, posted 18 double-figure scoring games last season, including six 20-point performances.
> South Carolina improved to 83-29 all-time in season openers, and a perfect 8-0 under the direction of Frank Martin in season lidlifters, when the Gamecocks posted a 77-55 win over North Alabama Nov. 6 at Colonial Life Arena.  Redshirt-sophomore forward Justin Minaya (17) and r-junior guard Jair Bolden (14) scored in double figures.
> R-freshman guard Jermaine Couisnard made his college debut vs. North Alabama, putting together a strong showing with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 22 minutes of action.  Couisnard missed the exhibition vs. CIU on Oct. 30 due to illness.
> Carolina improved to 2-0 on the young season when it posted a 66-32 victory over Wyoming at Colonial Life Arena on Sunday.  Four were in double figures for the Gamecocks, but the story of the game was the Carolina defense, which held Wyoming to just nine made field goals in the contest.
> Sophomore guard AJ Lawson and r-freshman guard Jermaine Couisnard each tallied 12 points to pace the Gamecocks in the win over the Cowboys.  Sophomore forward Alanzo Frink netted a career best 10 points, and r-junior guard Jair Bolden added 11.

NUMBERS
29 – Carolina forced 29 Cleveland State turnovers in the matchup vs. the Vikings on Nov. 15.  That mark was the most ever by a Gamecock squad under the direction of Frank Martin, and ties for the third-most all-time by a Carolina team (happened three other times, most recently vs. ETSU on Nov. 24, 2002).
250 – South Carolina head coach Frank Martin captured the 250th win of his celebrated career in the win over Gardner-Webb last Friday.  Martin’s team won 117 games at Kansas State, and his Gamecocks have captured 133 victories.
503 – Senior forward Maik Kotsar collected his 500th career rebound in the win over Gardner-Webb.  Kotsar is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.
24-15 – Carolina is 24-15 all-time in neutral-site games under the direction of Frank Martin.
100 – Sophomore guard AJ Lawson recorded the 100th assist of his career in the win over Gardner-Webb.  He paces Carolina with 3.8 assists per game entering the week’s action.
17/11 – In his return to the court for the first time in almost a year after missing the final 27 games of last season due to injury, r-sophomore forward Justin Minaya posted team highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career vs. North Alabama on Nov. 6.
49.1% – South Carolina was solid from the field vs. UNA, hitting 28-of-57 attempts, 49.1%, including 54.1% of its two-point attempts.
32 – Carolina held Wyoming to just 32 points in the non-conference matchup on Nov. 10.  The mark was the lowest opponent point total during the seven+ seasons under Coach Martin.
12 – Rookie forward Wildens Leveque was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line for the first double-digit outing of his career, as he posted 12 points in Carolina’s Nov. 15 win over Cleveland State.

COMING UP NEXT
> Carolina will face either West Virginia or Northern Iowa on Wednesday in its final matchup at the Cancun Challenge.  Game time will be either 6 or 8:30 p.m. ET and the contest will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Pete Gillen (analyst) on the call.