Gamecocks Take On Radford Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (3-0) remains at Colonial Life Arena for the final contest of a four-game homestand to start the season, welcoming in Radford (2-3) Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with arena doors opening 1 hour prior.

Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.

The Gamecocks are fresh off an 81-61 win over Presbyterian last Wednesday. Senior transfer guard Mike Sharavjamts led four in double figures with 13 points. Three freshmen provided a spark for Carolina in the victory. Forward Hayden Assemian got his first start and finished with a team-high in rebounds (8) and blocks (2). Guard Grant Polk led the Gamecock reserves with 12 points off the bench, going 4-of-4 from behind the arc. Guard Eli Ellis led the team with five assists and no turnovers. Junior forward Jordan Butler had his best game in Garnet and Black with career-highs in points (11) and rebounds (7).

Tuesday’s game is an on-campus, unbracketed matchup part of the upcoming Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off.

The Highlanders have played five games total this season with both their wins coming on their home floor against Western Illinois (Nov. 3) and West Virginia Wesleyan (Nov. 7). They played their first true road game of the season at North Carolina on Nov. 11, falling 89-74. Radford is fresh off two games in the River Division of the Greenbrier Tip-Off over the weekend. The Highlanders lost 92-59 to Wright State on Saturday and 87-82 to Cleveland State on Sunday. They were up in both games at halftime.

NC State transfer Dennis Parker Jr. is the team’s leading scorer averaging 16.4 points per game. Clemson transfer Del Jones is their second-leading scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game. Georgia Southern transfer Tyson Brown averages 8.0 points, 8.0 rebounds (leads team) and 1.6 blocks (leads team) per game. Offensively, Radford has averaged 78.8 points per game, scoring 80 or more on three occasions thru five games to begin the season.

GAME INFORMATION

TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network+
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dave Weinstein
    ANALYST: John Williams
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 381 | SXM APP: 971
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: Gamecocks lead, 4-0
IN COLUMBIA: Gamecocks lead, 4-0
SERIES TREND: SC has scored an average of 84.8 points in each win with an average margin of victory of 25.8 points.
LAST MEETING: 74-48 Gamecock victory on Dec. 22, 2024 last season. Carolina outscored Radford 44-12 in the 2nd half.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
11-1 – The Gamecocks have an 11-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
15-0 – The Gamecocks are 15-0 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
41-9 – The Gamecocks are 41-9 in 3 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.820 win %).
435 – Johnson (193) and Stute (242) have combined to make 435 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 242 career 3s are 13th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 193 3s rank T-39th.
998 – Stute (998 career pts) is closing in on 1,000 career points with his next made field goal.
456 – Stute (135), Johnson (119), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (102) and Kobe Knox (100) have combined to play 456 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (5th) and Johnson (T-25th) both rank inside the top-30 on the active games played list in Division I.
25 – Johnson became the 25th different player for South Carolina since the 2004-05 season to record a 30-point game. He, Brenton Williams (2014) and Devan Downey (2009) are the only Gamecocks to have a 30-point game with seven or more made 3s.
43 – Johnson became the 43rd player in the SEC to hit seven or more 3s in a game over the last five seasons. Stute is also on that list, making seven 3s twice while at Vanderbilt in games at Temple (11/15/22) and at Texas A&M (1/28/23).
3 – Grant Polk joined Justin Edwards (Kentucky in 2024) and Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee in 2021) as just the 3^rd SEC freshman over the last five seasons to record a game with four or more made 3s and no misses. Polk was 4-for-4 from behind the arc in a win over PC on Nov. 12.
2 – Hayden Assemian became the 2^nd Gamecock freshman over the last seven seasons, joining Collin-Murray Boyles (2024 vs. Vanderbilt), to record a game with six or more offensive rebounds.Assemian had a team-high eight rebounds in a win over PC on Nov. 12, six coming on the offensive glass.
7-0 – Carolina was 7-0 last season when holding its opponents below 40.0% shooting from the floor.
6-0  – The Gamecocks are 6-0 all-time under Paris when the team shoots 50.0 percent or higher from behind the arc.
38 – Carolina has hit 38 3s (12.7 3FG per game) in the first three games of the season with a combined 18 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the three ball games.
6-0 – The team is also 6-0 all-time under Paris when dishing out 20 or more assists.  Five of those six games came in the historic 2023-24 season with a high of 25 helpers in the win at Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024. Carolina dished out 24 assists on 31 made field goals in the 91-72, season-opening win against NC A&T (Nov. 4).
8-0 – The Gamecocks are 8-0 under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs. Carolina made 31 shots in the season-opener, shooting 49.2 percent from the floor.
28.8% – The Carolina defense held Arkansas to just 28.8% (15-of-52) from the field in a 72-53 win on March 1 last season, the lowest opponent FG-percentage in the Lamont Paris era at SC. The Gamecocks held Arkansas to just 14 points in the 1st half. With the win, Paris improved to 3-0 at Carolina against John Calipari, the winningest coach in men’s college basketball.
34 – The team made 34 free throws in an 84-69 win over Texas on Feb. 22 last season, the most in the Lamont Paris era at Carolina. The last time the Gamecocks hit 30 or more free throws in a game was 35 made foul shots in the four OT thriller against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017.
10 – Paris has been a part of 10 NCAA Tournament teams as a Division I assistant/head coach with his first appearance at South Carolina coming last season.
18 – He has been a part of 18, 20-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach.
.696 – In his 17 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, teams associated with Paris were 497-217 (.696) with five conference titles and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching two Final Fours.
274 – The Gamecocks made 274 3s during the 2023-24 campaign, a new single-season program record.
344 – The team had just 344 turnovers in the 2023-24 season, the third-fewest all-time for a single season at Carolina.
8-3 – The Gamecocks were 8-3 in true road games during the 2023-24 season. The team won seven SEC games on the road, tying the 1996-97 SEC Champion squad for the most league road wins in program history since joining the SEC in 1991-92.
25 – Carolina held 25 opponents to less than 70 points in 2023-24, which T-4th nationally and led the SEC.
8-0 – The Gamecocks were 8-0 in 2023-24 when shooting 50.0% or better from the floor.
1998 – The team finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll, marking the first time the Gamecocks were ranked in the final top-25 poll since being slotted No. 14 in the final AP Poll of 1998.
1997 – The Gamecocks picked up the program’s first top-five road win since 1997 on Jan. 30, 2024 with a 63-59 victory over No. 5/5 Tennessee. The previous top-five road win was a 72-66 win at No. 3 Kentucky on March 2, 1997. The 59 points scored by Tennessee were a season-low for the Vols. It was also the first home loss of the season for UT, snapping a 13-game home winning streak by the Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UP NEXT
South Carolina heads to West Virginia for a pair of games in the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off on Friday and Sunday. The Gamecocks will first face Butler (3-1) at 2 p.m. (ET) on Friday and then Northwestern (4-0) at 5 p.m. (ET) on Sunday. Both games will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Jack Benjamin (pxp) and Anne O’Neil (analyst) on the call.

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