Gamecocks Face Princeton At Asheville Championship

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (1-0) travels to the inaugural Asheville Championship this weekend, set to begin action at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville on Friday night versus Princeton (1-0) at 9:30 p.m. ET.  The meeting between the Gamecocks and Tigers is the first between the two schools since the 2008-09 season.  Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Robbie Hummel will have the call for ESPNEWS, while Derek Scott (play-by-play) and Casey Manning (analyst) will be over the air on the Gamecock Radio Network.

GAME INFORMATION
ARENA: Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville (7,654)
BROADCAST: ESPNEWS
  PLAY-BY-PLAY: Mark Neely
  ANALYST: Robbie Hummel
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network
  IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
  PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
  ANALYST: Casey Manning
  SIRIUS: – | XM: – | SXM APP: 983
WATCH: WatchESPN/ESPN App
LIVE STATS: GamecocksOnline.com
  SERIES: The series is tied at 3-3
  AT NEUTRAL SITES: Princeton leads 3-0
  SERIES TREND: Carolina has won the last two meetings
  LAST MEETING: 84-58 Gamecock win, at Princeton, on Dec. 2, 2008

TIPOFF NOTABLES
> South Carolina travels to the inaugural Asheville Championship this weekend, set to begin action at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville on Friday night versus Princeton.  The meeting between the Gamecocks and Tigers is the first since between the two schools since the 2008-09 season.
> The Gamecocks improved to 84-30 all-time in season openers when they posted a 78-60 victory over USC Upstate in the 2021-22 opener on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.  Junior guard Jermaine Couisnard and junior forward Wildens Leveque led the Gamecocks with 14 points each, while Couisnard dished out a game high seven assists in the win.
> Head coach Frank Martin is in his 10th season leading the Gamecocks.  He is assisted by associate head coach Chuck Martin (fifth season), assistant coaches Will Bailey (second season) and Brian Steele (first season), and the director of operations is Andy Assaley (10th season).  
> South Carolina posted a 101-76 exhibition win vs. Benedict on Nov. 4.  James Reese V led all scorers with 21 in the contest.
> The 2021-22 campaign is the 20th season of basketball at Colonial Life Arena.  The facility opened just prior to the 2002-03 campaign.
> South Carolina returns three of its top five scorers from a season ago, including senior forward Keyshawn Bryant (14.4 ppg), junior guard Jermaine Couisnard (10.1 ppg) and junior forward Wildens Leveque (6.1 ppg).
> Junior guard Jermaine Couisnard is Carolina’s top returning assist maker after averaging 3.2 per game last season.  For his career, Couisnard has 28 games with three or more assists, including his career high of 10, which he set in a home win over Mississippi State on March 3, 2020.
> The Gamecocks welcome nine newcomers to the team this season, including a trio of freshmen in Devin Carter, Ta’Quan Woodley and Jacobi Wright.  Six transfers are also set for their first season at Carolina in Chico Carter Jr. (Murray State), Josh Gray (LSU), Brandon Martin (USC Upstate), James Reese V (North Texas), Erik Stevenson (Washington) and AJ Wilson (George Mason).

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
> Head coach Mitch Henderson, a Princeton basketball alum, is in his 10th season leading the Tigers.
> Princeton is coming off a 94-28 victory over Rutgers University-Camden in its season-opener on Tuesday.
> Freshman Mason Hooks led all scorers with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting and also had a game-high five rebounds vs. Rutgers-Camden.
> Senior Jaelin Llewellyn and freshman Darius Gakwasi tied for the game-high in assists on Tuesday, as each handed out five.
> Princeton was picked third in the preseason Ivy League poll.

EXHIBITION RECAP
> South Carolina posted a 101-76 win over Benedict Nov. 4 at Colonial Life Arena in exhibition action.
> Gamecock guard James Reese V led all scorers with 21 points, behind nine made field goals, including a trio of 3s in the contest.
> Senior guard Erik Stevenson added 14, connecting on a game high four makes from 3-point range. Rookie guard Devin Carter added 13, and sophomore forward Josh Gray scored 10.
> Gray was dominant on the boards, collecting 12 rebounds including four on the offensive glass.
> Returning junior forward Wildens Leveque battled foul trouble in the matchup, but he was 4-of-4 from the floor, with four rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes of action.
> As a team, Carolina hit 56.6% from the floor, connecting on 43-of-76 attempts.  The Gamecocks were also solid at the free throw line, hitting 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the stripe.

BY THE NUMBERS
3,018 – South Carolina’s six incoming transfer student-athletes combined to score 3,018 points during their college careers prior to joining the Gamecocks, led by Erik Stevenson’s 826 career points.  
212 – AJ Wilson saw action in 114 games during his career at George Mason.  As a junior, Wilson set GMU’s all-time record for blocks in a single season with 92, and he concluded his career as the school’s all-time record holder in the category with 212 blocks.  
87.3% – James Reese V enters action this season having hit 62 of his 71 career attempts at the foul line, 87.3 percent.  Reese was 15-of-16 (93.8%) at the line as a freshman at Buffalo, 23-of-24 (95.8%) as a junior at North Texas, and he was 24-of-31 (77.4%) at the free throw line for the Mean Green last season.

COMING UP NEXT
> Carolina continues action at the Asheville Championship on Sunday when it will face Western Kentucky or Minnesota.  Visit GamecocksOnline.com for updated game times and broadcast information for Sunday.