Men's Basketball . February 26, 2024

Gamecocks Move Up to No. 18 in Both Polls

South Carolina Athletics

South Carolina has now been ranked in the top-25 of both polls four-straight weeks

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (22-5 overall, 10-4 SEC) moved up two spots to No. 18 in both the AP Top-25 Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll on Monday. This mark’s the fourth-straight week the team has been ranked in the top-25 of both major polls.

The Gamecocks picked up a big road win at Saturday at Ole Miss, 72-59, limiting the Rebels to just 33.1 percent shooting. In the last two seasons under head coach Lamont Paris, the team is 9-0 when limiting opponents to 60 points or less.

Saturday’s victory marked the team’s fifth SEC road win and its 10^th league win this season. The five road wins are tied with the 2016-17 team for the second most SEC wins away from home in a single season. The 1996-97 team won seven games away from home en route to the program’s first and only SEC Championship. The 10 SEC wins mark the eighth time the program has had double-digit league wins since joining the conference in 1991-92.

The Gamecocks won seven-straight SEC games in a stretch from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10, the team’s longest win streak in SEC play since starting the conference slate 11-0 during the 1996-97 season.

The win streak featured a pair of top-10 wins over then No. 6/6 Kentucky (Jan. 23) and No. 5/5 Tennessee (Jan. 30). The victories came in a three-game stretch, marking the first time the program recorded top-10 wins in a three-game span since 1968, per Elias Sports Bureau. The Gamecocks 63-59 win in Knoxville was just the fourth true road win this season over a top-five opponent (Arizona, James Madison and Clemson also on the list). It was the first top-five road win by the Gamecocks since defeating No. 3 Kentucky on March 2, 1997 at Rupp Arena.

This year’s squad recorded just the third 21-3 or better start in program history (2015-16, 1969-70 the others).

Carolina is 9-3 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games this season and has five wins against teams currently ranked in the top-60 of the NET Rankings (No. 5 Tennessee, No. 19 Kentucky, No. 28 Mississippi State, No. 56 Virginia Tech and No. 59 Grand Canyon).

The Gamecocks hit the road again on Wednesday to face Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC). Tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET) on the SEC Network with Clay Matvick (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call.

###