South Carolina is on the road on Wednesday for the first time in two weeks in Knoxville for a 9 pm complaint against Tennessee No. 19. Gamecocks (5-9, 3-7) will be tasked with trying to get a three-game losing streak against a Top 25 team on the road.
Head coach Frank Martin will be without two of his four greatest scorers as a guard Jermaine Couisnard (ankle) and forward Justin Minaya (head) did not make the trip due to injuries suffered on Saturday at home against Ole Miss.
GAME INFORMATION
Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)
Streaming: SEC Network
Game by game: Tom Hart
Analyst: Jon Sundvold
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
In columbia: 107.5 The Game
Game by game: Derek Scott
Analyst: Casey Manning
Sirius: – | XM: 384 | Internet: 974
Watch: App WatchESPN / ESPN
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Series: Tennessee leads 47-28
In Knoxville: Vols lead 28-9
Series Trend: Carolina’s home win last season broke a string of five consecutive UT wins in the series
Last meeting: 63-61 Carolina wins on February 15, 2020, in Columbia
GAMECOCK NOTES
– South Carolina’s guard duo AJ Lawson (19.1) and forward Keyshawn Bryant (16.3) on average 35.4 points combined per SEC game this season. Without the third and fourth scorers Couisnard (9.7 ppg) and Minaya (8.1 ppg), the Gamecocks will have to rely heavily on Lawson and Bryant to carry the charge offensively. Couisnard is the team’s best assistant, with 50, while Minaya leads the team in rebounds per game, with 6.9.
– Lawson’s case for All-SEC praise continues after he posted his eighth 20+ point of the season with a 22-point team against Ole Miss on Saturday. It was the 20th performance of 20 points in his career. Lawson is averaging 3.00 has scored three points per game this season, which leads the SEC and is the 20th nationally.
– Gamecocks are forcing 17.14 opponents’ turnovers per game (games in general), which is a better SEC, and 13 nationally. Carolina has forced a total of 63 turnovers in her last three games. The Gamecocks also lead the SEC and occupy the 10th place nationally with 13.86 offensive rebounds per game this season.
– Second year advanced Wildens Leveque set a career record 13 against Ole Miss on Saturday. It was his double-digit scoring performance in the fourth career.
– A win on Wednesday night would be band Carolina is second on the road this season and the first in Knoxville since 2017.
CHOOSING VOLUNTEERS
– Tennessee has 14-5 overall and 7-5 in the SEC game after recently suffering a 78-65 defeat at LSU on Saturday. Head coach Rick Barnes is in its sixth season leading the Volunteers.
– UT started their season with a seven-game winning streak. The Vols are 11-2 in home games this season and 4-2 in home games from the SEC.
– Freshman guard Jaden Springer leads UT with 12.2 points per game. Rookie Guard Keon Johnson (10.2) is the only other double-digit Vol for the year, however, averaging seven, at least 8.9 points per game for Tennessee. Senior / Advanced Guard Yves Pons is the fifth in the SEC with 1.6 blocks per game, and as a team, UT is 27th in the country with 4.7 blocks per game.
– The defense of the Volunteer is strong this season, occupying the 15th place in the national ranking, with opponents only 61.7 points per game. Tennessee averages 76.7 points per game in home games this season.