Gamecocks Face Butler at Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off Friday

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – South Carolina (4-0) faces Butler (3-1) for the first time in school history in its opening game of the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off on Friday afternoon. Jack Benjamin (pxp) and Anne O’Neil (analyst) will be on the call for the 2 p.m. (ET) broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

The Gamecocks are fresh off an impressive 87-58, wire-to-wire victory over Radford on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena. Elijah Strong (15) and Eli Ellis (14) combined for 29 of the team’s 50 bench points to lead four Gamecocks in double-figures. Mike Sharavjamts had his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Carolina spread the floor and shot the ball well, going 34-of-59 in the game. The 34 made field goals and the 57.6 percent shooting clip were both team highs in the Lamont Paris era over his four seasons at the helm in Columbia. The Gamecocks dished out 23 assists in the game (No. 3 highest total in the Paris era for a single-game), improving the team’s record to 7-0 (2-0 this season) under Paris when dishing out 20 or more helpers. Five of those wins came in the historic 2023-24 season.

The Bulldogs have had a high-powered offensive attack in their opening four games of the season, averaging 95.8 points (15^th in the nation) while shooting the ball at an effective 49.0% (128-of-261) clip. They’ve shot it at a high clip from behind the arc as well at 40.2% (43-of-107). Finley Bizjack leads four Butler players who average double figures at 15.0 points per game. Gonzaga transfer Michael Ajayi is averaging a double-double with 14.8 points and 11.8 rebounds (T-8^th in the nation), per game.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 2 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier
TV: CBS Sports Network
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Jack Benjamin
    ANALYST: Anne O’Neil
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 385 | SXM APP: 975
WATCH: cbssports.com
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast  

NUMBERS OF NOTE
12-1 – The Gamecocks have a 12-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
16-0 – The Gamecocks are 16-0 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
42-9 – The Gamecocks are 42-9 in 3 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.824 win %).
436 – Johnson (193) and Stute (243) have combined to make 436 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 243 career 3s are 13th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 193 3s rank T-40th.
1,000 – Stute recently scored his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer early in the game vs. Radford (Nov. 18).
460 – Stute (136), Johnson (120), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (103) and Kobe Knox (101) have combined to play 460 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (5th) and Johnson (T-24th) both rank inside the top-25 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).
7-0 – Carolina was 7-0 last season when holding its opponents below 40.0% shooting from the floor. The team is 1-0 this season when accomplishing the defensive feat.
6-0  – The Gamecocks are 6-0 all-time under Paris when the team shoots 50.0 percent or higher from behind the arc.
45 – Carolina has hit 45 3s (11.3 3FG per game) in the first four games of the season with a combined 23 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the four ball games.
7-0 – The team is also 7-0 all-time under Paris when dishing out 20 or more assists.  Five of those seven 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).
9-0 – The Gamecocks are 9-0 under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs. Carolina made 34 field goals (team high in the Paris era), shooting 57.6% (another team high in the Paris era) in an 87-58 victory over Radford on Nov. 18.
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 faces Northwestern (4-0) on Sunday in its second game of the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off. The matchup begins at 5 p.m. (ET) on CBS Sports Network with Jack Benjamin (pxp) and Anne O’Neil (analyst) on the call. It will be another first-time matchup for the Gamecocks.

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