Men's Hoops On The Road At Georgia Saturday Afternoon

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (10-10, 5-2 SEC) begins a two-game road swing when it travels to face Georgia (10-10, 1-6 SEC) on Saturday afternoon in Athens.  Tip time for the matchup between the former SEC East foes is set for 1 p.m. ET on the SEC Network with Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) on the call.

STARTING FIVE
> South Carolina looks to snap a two-game losing streak on Saturday when it travels to face Georgia in Athens.  The meeting is the first of two between the two schools this season, as UGA will make the return trip to Columbia on March 9 for Senior Day at Colonial Life Arena.
> It’ll be a sideline reunion for Gamecock assistant Chuck Martin, who served as an assistant coach for Tom Crean for three seasons at Indiana (2014-17).  During those three campaigns, the Hoosiers advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and captured the 2016 Big Ten title.
> Senior forward Chris Silva put together another standout performance against top-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday.  He scored 28 points, and pulled down 10 rebounds – including a season high eight on the offensive glass – for his sixth double-double of the season, and second straight at home.  Silva paces the Gamecocks in overall games with 13.9 points per contest, and also in league play, with 16.0 points per game.
> Carolina has won four-straight in the series against the Bulldogs, this coming after UGA had won the four previous meetings.  The Gamecocks have also won three of the last four meetings at Stegeman.
> Graduate student guard Tre Campbell connected on a trio of 3-pointers in the matchup against Tennessee on Tuesday, marking his eighth game of the season with multiple makes from beyond the arc.  In SEC contests, he has hit 10-of-24 atttempts (41.7%) from 3-point range.
> Carolina’s lone Georgia native, senior guard Hassani Gravett, is having his best year in the Garnet and Black from a statistical standpoint.  He’s one of three averaging double-figures at 11.1 per contest, and that number improves to 13.4 points per SEC game.  He’s also Carolina’s top 3-point threat, as he has hit a team high 36 3-pointers, he has 12 games with multiple made 3s, and he is also 41-of-48 (84.6%) at the free throw line.

COACHES VS. CANCER 3-POINT CHALLENGE
> Frank Martin and the Gamecock men’s basketball team has joined forces with the NABC and the American Cancer Society for the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge, which will take place during the month of February. During the month, every 3-pointer the Gamecocks make will help raise money to beat cancer.  The 3-Point Challenge is a nationwide program that unites basketball teams and their fans for a common cause — ending cancer. Fans can join the 3-Point Challenge and help beat cancer on the court by pledging a donation for every 3-pointer the Gamecocks make in February by visiting http://www.pledgeit.org/cvc19-south-carolina.  During the month, Gamecock fans can keep up with the leaderboard at www.3pointchallenge.org.

THROUGH 20 GAMES…
> The Gamecocks are 10-10 this season overall, which includes a 7-5 mark at home, a 2-4 record on the road an a 1-1 mark at neutral sites.  
> Both of Carolina’s road wins have come in SEC play, at Florida and at Vanderbilt.
> Senior forward Chris Silva paces Carolina with 13.9 points per outing.  He has 13 double-figure scoring games this season, six double-doubles and 11 games with two or more blocks.
> Rookie guard A.J. Lawson adds 13.0 points per game.  He has led or shared the team lead in scoring for the Gamecocks seven times, and in assists 12 times.
> The Gamecocks are 7-1 when scoring 80 or more points, but just 1-6 when scoring 69 or less.
> As a team, the Gamecocks have taken 15 charges on the year, led by Silva’s eight.
> The Gamecocks have connected on eight or more 3-point attempts seven times this season, holding a 5-2 record in those games.
> Carolina is 7-2 this season when leading at the half.

FRANK MARTIN
> South Carolina head coach Frank Martin is in his seventh season leading the Gamecocks and 12th season overall as a head coach in 2018-19.  Martin, the 2017 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year (CollegeInsider.com), led South Carolina to its first Final Four and a school record 26 wins in 2016-17.  In his 11 complete seasons as a head coach, Martin has led his teams to at least 21 wins seven times.  Martin is a native of Miami, Fla., and a graduate of FIU.
> Prior to his time on the sidelines in the college ranks, Martin spent 15 years in high school coaching in Miami, Fla., including the last seven as a head coach. He was part of five state championships as an assistant at Miami Senior High School (1985-93), before earning two titles as the program’s head coach (1995-98). Highlighting Martin’s stint as the head coach of the program were consecutive 30-win seasons and consecutive Florida 6A State Championships in 1996 and 1997, with his 1997 squad earning a 36-1 overall record and ranking No. 4 in the USA Today Top 25 Poll. He also served as the head coach at North Miami Senior High School (1993-95) and one season at Booker T. Washington High School (1999-2000).
> Among active Division I head coaches, South Carolina’s Frank Martin holds the seventh-highest (tied with Michigan’s John Beilein) NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.667) behind only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Kansas’ Bill Self, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Villanova’s Jay Wright.
> Martin led team’s are 100-97 (.507) all-time in league play.

QUICK HITS
> South Carolina is in its 111th season of varsity basketball in 2018-19.
> Gamecock head coach Frank Martin is joined on the sidelines by assistant coaches Perry Clark (6th season), Bruce Shingler (3rd season) and Chuck Martin (2nd season).  Andy Assaley is in his seventh season as the director of operations.
> South Carolina is one of 13 DI schools nationally that have two or more former DI coaches serving as an assistant coach.  Perry Clark served as the head coach at Tulane, Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, while Chuck Martin was the head coach at Marist for five campaigns.
> South Carolina advanced to its first Final Four in 2016-17, which included posting its first NCAA Tounament win since the 1973 campaign when it talied a 93-73 win over Marquette in the First Round.
> The Gamecocks are 24-14 (.631) in neutral-site contests under the direction of head coach Frank Martin, including a 3-3 mark last season.
> Carolina was 15-18 (.454) over the course of the last three seasons in away contests (2015-16, 16-17, 17-18).
> Martin is 31-41 (.430) against ranked opponents as a head coach. His teams have four wins over opponents ranked in the top five, and two wins over opponents who are ranked No. 1.
> Senior forward Chris Silva was named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team by both the media and coaches; and also named to the Karl Malone Award Watch List, the Naismith Trophy Watch List and the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List.  He was also named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
> The Gamecocks look to stay among SEC leaders on Saturday, as Carolina is currently one of only four teams with more than four SEC wins through the first seven games.
> Senior forward Chris Silva became the first Gamecock in school history to have at least 500 made free throws and 700 rebounds for his career when he hit his first of 10 made free throws vs. No. 1 Tennessee on Tuesday.
> Rookie guard A.J. Lawson has been Carolina’s top scorer on the road this season, averaging 14.2 points per game.  His highest scoring output on the road came in a 24-point performance at Vanderbilt, which included hitting the game-winning free throws.
> In the SEC statistics (overall games), Carolina is seventh in free throw percent (71.3), and seventh in turnover margin (+1.5); in strictly league games, Carolina is seventh in field goal percent (43.9), bolstered by Silva’s 64.2 percent from the field.
> South Carolina returns seven letterwinners from last season’s 17-16 squad, including senior guard Hassani Gravett and senior forward Chris Silva.
> Carolina welcomes nine newcomers to its roster this season, including transfers and six freshmen student-athletes.  Jair Bolden (transfer/George Washington/guard), redshirt-junior Raymond “Quad” Borup (r-junior/forward), graduate transfer Tre Campbell (transfer/Georgetown/guard), Keyshawn Bryant (freshman/guard), Jermaine Couisnard (freshman/guard), Alanzo Frink (freshman/forward), A.J. Lawson (freshman/guard), T.J. Moss (freshman/guard) and Nathan Nelson (freshman/forward).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
> UGA is led by head coach Tom Crean in his first season in Athens.
> The Bulldogs are 10-10 on the season, with eight of those wins coming at home.
> In SEC action, UGA is just 1-6, with their lone win coming at home against Vanderbilt on Jan. 9.
> Georgia posted a 98-88 win over Texas last Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at home.  In that contest, Tyree Crump hit six 3s, and led five in double-figures with 21 points.
> UGA is one of the top rebounding teams in the country, averaging 41.0 per game and holding a +6.0 rebound margin over opponents.
> Rayshaun Hammonds paces the team with 13.0 points per game, while Nicolas Claxton adds 12.9 points, pulls down a team high 9.3 rebounds (SEC leader in overall games) and also blocks a league-leading 2.9 shots per outing.
> Five different Bulldogs have registered 35 or more assists this season, and six have double-digit steals.

COMING UP NEXT
South Carolina travels to No. 7/6 Kentucky next Tuesday for its lone matchup of the season vs. the Wildcats.  The Gamecocks look for their first win at Rupp Arena since 2009.  The matchup will be broadcast on the SEC Network and will tip at 6:30 p.m. ET.