South Carolina Takes On Northwestern Sunday at The Greenbrier

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – South Carolina (4-1) squares off with Northwestern (4-1) of the Big Ten in its final game of the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday. Jack Benjamin (pxp) and Anne O’Neil (analyst) will be on the call for the 5 p.m. (ET) broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

The Gamecocks are looking to bounce back from the team’s first loss of the season on Friday to Butler. Carolina had opportunities to get back in the game with a number of open looks down the stretch from behind the arc, but it couldn’t capitalize and fell 79-72 to the Bulldogs. Butler had 11 of its 15 offensive rebounds in the first half in building a 38-31 lead at the break. The Bulldogs finished with a 48-29 advantage on the boards. The 48 rebounds tied for the most allowed in the Lamont Paris era at Carolina. Meechie Johnson led all scorers with 24 points. Eli Ellis and Mike Sharavjamts each added 13 to join Johnson in double-figures. Ellis scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half and led the team with a career-high three steals.

The Wildcats are led by senior forward Nick Martinelli. He was All-Big Ten Second Team last season after leading the league in scoring (20.5 ppg). Thru five games this season, he’s averaging 18.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Cincinnati big man transfer Arrinten Page averages 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds (leads team) per game. He leads the team in blocks (5) and steals (7) as well. USF transfer point guard Jayden Reid averages 14.6 points and a team-high 5.6 assists per game, which is T-58^th nationally. Northwestern fell 83-78 to undefeated Virginia (5-0) on Friday in its opening game at The Greenbrier. Like Carolina, the Wildcats were doubled up in the rebound column as the Cavaliers finished the game with a 49-25 advantage on the glass. Reid has 25 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Page had 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

It’ll be just the fourth Big Ten opponent faced by the Gamecocks over the last 10 seasons. Carolina played at Indiana last season and faced Michigan in a home-and-home series in nonconference play in the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons. The last time the Gamecocks played a Big Ten school on a neutral court was Penn State on Nov. 22, 2007 in the team’s opening game of the Old Spice Classic (Orlando, Fla.). Carolina won, 74-67, led by 30 points from Devan Downy and 16 points from Zam Fredrick Jr.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 5 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: — | SXM APP: 987
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 %).
439 – Johnson (196) and Stute (243) have combined to make 439 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-38th.
1,000 – Stute recently scored his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer early in the game vs. Radford (Nov. 18).
464 – Stute (137), Johnson (121), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (104) and Kobe Knox (102) have combined to play 464 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.
52 – Carolina has hit 52 3s (10.4 3FG per game) in the first five games of the season with a combined 28 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the five 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 is off until a Black Friday tilt against Charleston Southern (4-3) on Nov. 28 at home. Tip is set for 4 p.m. (ET) with Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call for SEC Network+ broadcast.

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