Gamecocks Back in Action Saturday Night Versus The Citadel

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (6-3) remains at home and host The Citadel on Saturday night at Colonial Life Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with doors opening 1 hour prior. It’s the first matchup between the two in-state schools since an 80-66 Gamecock victory back on Dec. 20, 2008.

Gamecock Athletics has partnered with the Gamecock CommUnity Shop on campus to host its annual coat drive. Fans are encouraged to bring coat donations to the game. Santa will also be making an appearance when doors open until halftime in the main lobby area.

Dave Weinstein (pxp) and former Gamecock Stephen Clark (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.

Carolina was off in the midweek due to finals. Last Saturday (Dec. 6), Carolina bounced back from a tough overtime loss versus Virginia Tech (Dec. 2) in a 82-51 blowout victory over Stetson. Meechie Johnson led three players in double-figures for the Gamecocks with a game-high 17 points. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Johnson also led the team with five assists, his 20^th career game with five or more helpers. Grant Polk hit four 3s and had 12 points off the bench. He joined Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas as the only SEC freshmen to have multiple games with four or more makes from behind the arc. Elijah Strong chipped in 12 points off the bench as well, his fourth-straight game in double-figures. The Gamecocks were an efficient 54.5% (30-of-55) from the floor improving to 13-1 under head coach Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher.

The Bulldogs snapped a four-game losing skid on Tuesday night with a 98-73 home victory over Southern Wesleyan. Braxton Williams (10.8 ppg) and Christian Moore (10.3 ppg) both average double-figures for The Citadel. Florida State transfer Sola Adebisi averages 9.4 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per contest. He also leads the team in field goal percentage at 64.1% (25-of-39). The Bulldogs are led by veteran head coach Ed Conroy, who is in year four of his second stint leading the program. He was previously the head coach of the Bulldogs from 2006-10 before taking the head job at Tulane for six seasons from 2010-16. Conroy was an assistant at Minnesota (2016-21) and Vanderbilt (2021-22) before returning to The Citadel for the 2022-23 season.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network+
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dave Weinstein
    ANALYST: Stephen Clark
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network 
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
    ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 387 | SXM APP: 977
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast  
SERIES: 76-23, Gamecocks lead
IN COLUMBIA: 48-9, Gamecocks lead
SERIES TREND: The Gamecocks have won 13-straight over The Citadel dating back to a 69-65 win in Charleston on Feb. 14, 1990.
LAST MEETING: 80-66 victory in head coach Darrin Horn’s first season on Dec. 20, 2008 at Colonial Life Arena. Devan Downey led the Gamecocks with 17 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
13-1 – The Gamecocks have a 13-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
17-1 – The Gamecocks are 17-1 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
44-9 – The Gamecocks are 44-9 in 4 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.830 win %).
27-3 – Carolina is 27-3 under Paris last season when holding its opponents below 40% shooting from the floor. The team was 7-0 last season and is 3-0 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.
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).
10-0 – The Gamecocks are 10-0 (2-0 this season)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.
446 – Meechie Johnson (203) and Myles Stute (243) have combined to make 446 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 243 career 3s are 17th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 201 3s rank 41st. The Gamecocks are one of six teams in NCAA Division I to have multiple players with 200+ career made 3s (Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, San Diego & West Virginia the others).
477 – Stute (138), Johnson (125), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (108) and Kobe Knox (106) have combined to play 477 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (6th) and Johnson T-27th) both rank inside the top-30 on the active games played list in Division I.
1,000 – Stute scored his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer early in the game vs. Radford (Nov. 18).
981 – Johnson has 981 career points at South Carolina. He is seeking to become the 48th  Gamecock to join the 1,000 career point club (first since AJ Lawson in 2021).
25 – Johnson became the 25th different player for South Carolina since the 2004-05 season to record a 30-point game when he had a career-high 33 points vs. Southern Miss on Nov. 9. Johnson, 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).
87 – Carolina has hit 87 3s (9.7 3FG per game) in the first nine games of the season with a combined 50  different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the nine ball games (average of 5.6 different players hitting a 3FG per game).
30 – The Gamecocks’ 31-point win over Stetson (Dec. 6) was the team’s first victory by 30 or more points since defeating Florida A&M, 94-62, on Dec. 30, 2023 in the non-conference finale.
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 The Upstate for its first and only true road game of the non-conference slate, facing in-state rival Clemson (7-3) in the annual Palmetto Series. Roy Philpott (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) will be on the call for the 7 p.m. (ET) ESPN2 broadcast at Littlejohn Coliseum.

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