No. 16/17 South Carolina Faces Oregon in NCAA Tournament Thursday

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – No. 16/17 South Carolina (26-7, 13-5 SEC) faces Oregon (23-11, 12-8 Pac-12) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. (ET) with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn on the call for the TNT broadcast.

The Gamecocks, seeded sixth in the NCAA Midwest Regional, are playing in March Madness for the first time since the historic 2017 Final Four run. The team is making its 10^th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena this week.

Carolina received an at-large bid after one of the best regular seasons in program history. The Ducks won the Pac-12 Tournament to punch their ticket to the Big Dance last Saturday in Las Vegas. Oregon is the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Head coach Lamont Paris, the SEC Coach of the Year and a candidate for several major National Coach of the Year awards, is seeking to become just the third coach in program history to win an NCAA Tournament game joining Frank McGuire and Frank Martin.

A victory in the opening round would also be a new program record for single-season wins.

VENUE: PPG Paints Arena

BROADCAST: TNT

PLAY-BY-PLAY: Andrew Catalon

ANALYST: Steve Lappas

REPORTER: Evan Washburn

RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network  

IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game

  PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott

  ANALYST: Casey Manning

SIRIUSXM: 210 or 203 | SXM APP: 966

WATCH: NCAA.com

LIVE STATS: NCAA.com

SERIES: first all-time meeting

NEUTRAL: first all-time meeting

SERIES TREND: first all-time meeting

LAST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME: 77-73 Gonzaga win on April 1, 2017 in Phoenix, Ariz. at the Final Four.

UP NEXT

With a victory, the Gamecocks will face the winner of No. 3 seed Creighton (23-9, 14-6 Big East) and No. 14 seed Akron (24-10, 13-5 MAC) in in the round of 32 with a trip to the Sweet16 on the line. Catalon, Lappas and Washburn will remain on the call. Tip time and network assignment are TBD.

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