South Carolina men’s basketball will play their first road game of the season on Saturday night, meeting No. 10 Houston on their court at Fertitta Center at 6 pm on ESPN +. The Gamecocks (1-1) are coming out of a split decision at the Hall of Fame Classic last week in Kansas City. They fell to Liberty by double digits, but recovered to beat Tulsa by double digits less than 24 hours later.
This will be a rematch between Carolina and Houston. The two met last December in Columbia as part of the SEC / AAC Challenge. The Cougars defeated the Gamecocks 76-56 and both teams returned most of their players from last season.
GAMES TRAINING
Arena: Fertitta Center
Broadcast: ESPN +
Game by game: Matt Thomas
Analyst: Reid Gettys
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
In columbia: 107.5 The Game
Game by game: Derek Scott
Analyst: Casey Manning
To watch: App WatchESPN / ESPN
Live stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Houston Series: Series tied 3-3
In Houston: Houston leads 2-0
Series Trend: The Cougars won their first away win in the series last season in Columbia
Last meeting: 76-56 Victory in Houston on December 8, 2019 in Columbia
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– Gamecock MBB (@GamecockMBB) December 4, 2020
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GAMECOCK NOTES
– In her most recent fight, Carolina kept Tulsa goalless for more than nine minutes in the second half and used a 15-0 streak to close a 69-58 win over Hurricane Gold. The victory was Carolina’s first of the year and improved the Gamecocks’ record to 1-1 after opening the action in Kansas City with a 78-62 loss to Liberty (28 November).
– Junior Guard AJ Lawson was nominated for the Classic All-Tournament Team Hall of Fame after a pair of double-digit scores at the event. Lawson led the Gamecocks with 12 against Liberty, before leaving 17 points behind four of three points in the victory over Tulsa. At the weekend, Lawson had 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) three-point ground, while also giving out three assists and collecting three steals.
– Red second year guard t-shirt Jermaine Couisnard led Carolina with 20 points in the victory against Tulsa. It was the third 20-point exit of his career. Since starting the SEC game last season, he has hit double digits in 16 of the last 19 games.
– The last time Carolina opened with several games outside of Columbia was in the 2001-02 campaign, when the Gamecocks played their first three games of the season on the Maui Invitational.
– Head coach Frank Martin is 33-45 (.423) against opponents classified as head coach. Their teams have four wins over opponents ranked in the top five and two wins over opponents who are in first place.
– South Carolina had 13 steals in their victory over Tulsa last Sunday, led by a career record for four second-year guards. TJ Moss. Junior forward Justin Minaya, Couisnard, senior guard Seventh woods and second year forward Wildens Leveque each had two. The Gamecocks led the SEC with a turnover assistance ratio of 1.09 and placed second in the league with 7.7 steals per game in 2019-20.
– Woods did not train on Tuesday due to what Martin called an “adjusted” knee after the victory over Tulsa. If the Gamecocks had a game on Wednesday, Martin said Woods would have been dropped. On Saturday morning, it is not clear whether the veteran guard will be available off the bench against Houston.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
– Houston is ranked No. 10 in this week’s AP poll after opening the campaign with a trio of victories last week – against Lamar and Boise State, and a neutral website win over Texas Tech. Kelvin Sampson is in his sixth season leading the Cougars. Sampson led his team to an overall record of 23-8 last season, including a 13-5 mark in American Athletic Conference games on the way to winning the league.
– Houston are 2-0 at home this season and 14-2 at home in 2019-20.
– Three have a two-digit average for the cougars entering Saturday’s match against Carolina, led by Marcus Sasser17.3 points per game. Quentin Grimes (16.0) and Tramon Mark (14.0) are also averaging two digits so far.
– Houston has a +14.3 rebound margin over his opponents, with five different players averaging at least 5.7 rebounds per game. Grimes and DeJon Jarreau the team’s pace with 7.3 rebounds per game.
– Cougar’s opponents averaged 17.7 turnovers per competition in the first three games of 2020-21.
QUOTES
“We have a great opportunity on Saturday. Not only are they ranked, around 10th in the country, but it is also a team that beat us last year. … As a coach, there are certain teams that I will play at night and get excited about (playing) and Houston is one of them. I think Kelvin Sampson is one of the best coaches of my generation. As a young aspiring coach who watches his games on TV, he is one of the guys I have always admired. “- Frank Martin
“Houston is definitely a very good team and we are going to prepare for them all week. All we can do is improve each day and we will be ready for the Sabbath. It’s a great opportunity. That’s why I came to school here, to play against some of the best teams in the country. We are a very good team too. We will be ready for Saturday. “- Justin Minaya