Gamecocks Return Home, Face Texas Saturday Night

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (10-16, 0-13 SEC) returns home to face Texas (16-10, 5-8 SEC) on Saturday night. Roy Philpott (pxp) and former Gamecock assistant coach Perry Clark (analyst) will be on the call for the 8:30 p.m. (ET) SEC Network broadcast. Arena doors will open 1 hour prior to tipoff.

It will be just third all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since Jan. 23, 1982 in Austin. Carolina defeated the Longhorns, 74-70, in the first and only matchup in Columbia all-time between the two schools on Dec. 23, 1980. Freshman forward Jimmy Foster had 24 points and 12 rebounds and senior guard Zam Fredrick had 22 points to lead the Gamecocks to victory. Fredrick would go on to lead the nation in scoring (28.9 ppg) and earn AP Honorable Mention All-America honors that season.

Saturday’s game will mark just the second time in league action this season the Gamecocks have had consecutive games against non-ranked opponents. Carolina’s 12 games against AP Top-25 teams so far his season ties the 1999-2000 team for the most regular season games in program history against ranked opponents in the AP poll era.

Senior transfer guard Jamarii Thomas is fresh off a season-high 23 points at LSU on Tuesday night. He went 9-of-16 from the floor and his nine made field goals tied a single-game, career high. Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles had his seventh double-double (T-3^rd in SEC with Alabama’s Grant Nelson) against the Tigers with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The local product from Columbia is one of just two players in Power Five (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and SEC) averaging at least 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game while shooting above 50.0% from the floor (Derik Queen of Maryland the other).

Murray-Boyles leads the SEC (31^st nationally) in field goal percentage (min. five made FGs, per game) at 57.3% (153-of-267 FGs).

Texas had its bye this week and is coming off an 82-78 home win over No. 15/18 Kentucky last Saturday. They are led by freshman guard Tre Johnson, who leads the SEC (19^th nationally) in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Forward Arthur Kaluma (12.9 ppg) and guard Jordan Pope (11.3 ppg) also average double figures for the Longhorns. Texas is 3-4 in true road games this season with wins at NC State (Dec. 4), at Oklahoma (Jan. 15) and at LSU (Feb. 1).

A PARKING NOTE TO FANS ATTENDING GAMES AT COLONIAL LIFE ARENA:

• A water pipe issue has forced the closure of parts of Greene Street which will impact the usual game-day traffic patterns around Colonial Life Arena.
  
• Greene Street will be closed from Park to Lincoln, and Lincoln Street will be closed from Devine to Greene. 
• Fans should choose an alternate route to their parking location prior to arriving to the area.

GAME INFORMATION

TIME: 8:30 p.m. (ET)

VENUE: Colonial Life Arena

TV: SEC Network 

PLAY-BY-PLAY: Roy Philpott

ANALYST: Perry Clark

RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network  

IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game

  PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott

  ANALYST: Casey Manning

SIRIUSXM: 391 | SXM APP: 981

WATCH: espn.com/watch/

LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

SERIES: tied, 1-1

IN COLUMBIA: Gamecocks lead, 1-0

SERIES TREND: Each team has won on its home floor in the two all-time matchups.

LAST MEETING: 88-71 Longhorn victory on Jan. 23, 1982 in Austin, Texas.

UP NEXT

Carolina hits the road to face its 13th top-25 opponent of the season at No. 15/16 Missouri (20-6, 9-4 SEC) on Tuesday night. Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) will be on the call for the ESPNU broadcast.

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