COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 118th season of South Carolina men’s basketball tips off Tuesday night at 7 p.m. (ET) as the Gamecocks welcome North Carolina A&T to Colonial Life Arena. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the season opener.
There will be free pizza (first 500 students) and tee shirts (first 750 students) for students attending the game in The Cockpit. For more information on The Cockpit and claiming student tickets, click here.
It’s new-look squad this season for South Carolina with 12 players not on last year’s team. Two familiar faces return in All-SEC guard Meechie Johnson (transferred back from Ohio State) and guard Eli Sparkman (returns from studying abroad last year in Chile). They are joined by five more transfers and a five-man freshmen class led by highly-touted guard Eli Ellis, who had a game-high 23 points and hit five 3s in the team’s recent exhibition game against NC State on Oct. 26. The five-man class is tied with Auburn and Tennessee for the second-largest in the SEC behind only Arkansas (7).
Tomorrow night marks the fourth season under the direction of Lamont Paris, who was tabbed the 2024 SEC Coach of the Year after he spearheaded the greatest single-season turnaround in program history in 2023-24.
GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network+
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dave Weinstein
ANALYST: John Williams
RADIO: Gamecock Radio Network
IN COLUMBIA: 107.5 The Game
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Derek Scott
ANALYST: Casey Manning
SIRIUSXM: 374 | SXM APP: 374
WATCH: espn.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
SERIES: Gamecocks lead, 1-0
IN COLUMBIA: Gamecocks lead, 1-0
SERIES TREND: Only one previous meeting
LAST MEETING: 91-54 Gamecock win in the non-conference finale on Dec. 30, 2014. All five starters scored in double figures for South Carolina.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
11-1 – The Gamecocks have an 11-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his first season in 2022-23 at Missouri. This new-look Gamecock squad shot 55.4% from the floor in a recent exhibition game against NC State in Greensboro on Oct. 26. Eight different players scored and five different players hit a 3 as the team impressed on the offensive end of the floor.
40-9 – The Gamecocks are 40-9 in 3 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.816 win %).
419 – Meechie Johnson (183) and Myles Stute (236) have combined to make 419 3s in their college careers.
444 – Sute (132), Johnson (116), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (99) and Kobe Knox (97) have combined to play 444 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt.
65 – Of the 71 players returning with SEC experience this season, Stute has the most career SEC games played with 65. He is one of just three returning SEC players with more than 50 career SEC games played (Nick Pringle – 51 ; Shawn Jones Jr. – 50).
21 – Sharavjamts has 21 career college games with five or more assists.
265 – He and Johnson each enter their final college seasons with 265 career assists, each. Sharavjamts has averaged 2.7 assists per game in college and owns a 1.9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Johnson has averaged 2.3 assists per game in his career and owns a 1.4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Knox owns a 1.9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio for his career as well.
.917 – Lamont Paris’ teams have .917 win percentage (44-4) when scoring 80 or more points dating back to his first season as head coach at Chattanooga (2017-18). He’s 12-0 at Carolina when his team scores 80 or more.
5-0 – The team is 5-0 all-time under Paris when having 20 or more assists. All five of those wins came in the historic 2023-24 season with a high of 25 helpers in the win at Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024.
7-0 – The Gamecocks are 7-0 under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs.
14 – South Carolina played 14 top-25 teams in its 32 games last season, the most AP top-25 opponents faced in a single season in program history, surpassing the 1999-00 team who faced 12 top-25 opponents under head coach Eddie Fogler.
15 – The Gamecocks’ 15-win turnaround in 2023-24 was the greatest single season turnaround in program history, surpassing the 11-win improvement from 2002-03 to 2003-04 under Dave Odom.
274 – The Gamecocks made 274 3s during the 2023-24 campaign, a new single-season program record.
1998 – The team finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll, marking the 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.
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 in 2024.
18 – Paris has been a part of 18, 20-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach.
7 – Paris was a part of the Wisconsin coaching staff that made SEVEN straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament from 2011-17. Included in that stretch was a National Championship Game appearance (2015), Final Four (2014) and four Sweet 16s (2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017).
UP NEXT
South Carolina remains home and will face Southern Miss on Sunday, Nov. 9. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with John Schriffen (pxp) and former Texas head coach Rodney Terry (analyst) on the call for the linear broadcast. It’ll be the 20th all-time meeting between the programs and first since the 1990-91 season.
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