Gamecocks Face UAlbany in Non-Con Finale Tuesday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (8-4) is back in action after a brief holiday break to conclude the non-conference portion of the team’s schedule against UAlbany (4-10) on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 6 p.m. (ET) with Colonial Life Arena doors opening 1 hour prior.

It will be the first all-time meeting between the Gamecocks and the Great Danes who hail from the America East Conference.

Lowell Galindo (pxp) and Richard Hendrix (analyst) will be on the call for the linear SEC Network broadcast.

The Gamecocks popular free concessions promotion remains active again for tomorrow evening’s game. For more information, click here.

In the team’s last outing, five different players scored in double-figures in a balanced effort in a 95-70 rout of SC State back on Dec. 22. The 95 points scored were the most in the Lamont Paris era at Carolina and the team’s 59.2% (29-of-49 FGs) shooting clip was also a high in the Paris era in Columbia. Myles Stute had a season-high 15 points with seven rebounds, knocking down a trio of 3s from behind the arc. Freshman Grant Polk also hit three 3s en route to scoring a career-high 13 points off the bench. The Gamecocks had 48 bench points in the win as the team improved to 3-0 this season when getting 40 or more points from the reserves.

UAlbany is led by fifth-year head coach Dwayne Killings, a former assistant at Marquette (2018-21), UCONN (2016-18) and Temple (2011-16). Their roster features 11 transfer players. Sophmore guard Amir Lindsey is the team’s leading scorer and assister, averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. Junior guard Jaden Kempson, a JUCO transfer from Midland College, also averages double-figures with 11.3 points per game. Three of UAlbany’s four wins this season have come against non-D1 opponents. Their lone D1 victory was a 71-55 true road win at Stony Brook on Dec. 17. The Great Danes enter Monday night’s contest with a 1-6 record away from home this season.

GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 6 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
    PLAY-BY-PLAY: Lowell Galindo
    ANALYST: Richard Hendrix
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: first all-time meeting
IN COLUMBIA: first all-time meeting
SERIES TREND: first all-time meeting
LAST MEETING: first all-time meeting

NUMBERS OF NOTE
14-1 – The Gamecocks have a 14-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
18-1 – The Gamecocks are 18-1 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
45-10 – The Gamecocks are 45-10 in 4 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.818 win %).
28-3 – Carolina is 28-3 under Paris last season when holding its opponents below 40% shooting from the floor. The team was 7-0 last season and is 4-0 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% in an 87-58 victory over Radford on Nov. 18.
452 – Johnson (204) and Stute (248) have combined to make 452 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 248 career 3s are 17th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 204 3s rank 43rd. The Gamecocks are one of eight teams in NCAA Division I to have multiple players with 200+ career made 3s (Alabama, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, San Diego & West Virginia the others).
489 – Stute (141), Johnson (128), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (111) and Kobe Knox (109) have combined to play 489 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (6th) and Johnson (T-23rd) both rank inside the top-25 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)
48 – Johnson scored his 1,000th career point at South Carolina with his final bucket in a recent victory over The Citadel (Dec. 13). He became the 48th  Gamecock to join the 1,000-career point club (first since former All-SEC guard AJ Lawson from 2018-21).
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.
44 – Johnson became the 44th 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).
100 – Carolina has hit 100 3s (8.3 3FG per game) in the first 12 games of the season with a combined 59 different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the 12 ball games (average of 4.9 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
The Gamecocks open SEC play at home against No. 11/11 Vanderbilt (12-0) at 2 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and former Texas head coach Rodney Terry (analyst) will be on the call for the ESPNU broadcast.

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