The Last Hoorah: Gamecocks at Vols Saturday

GAME INFORMATION Game Date: Saturday, March 7, 2015 Game Time: 4 p.m. ET Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) Broadcast: FSN Talent: James Bates (pxp), Matt Carroll (analyst) Radio: Gamecock Radio Network Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst) Sirius: N/A; XM: N/A Series: Tennessee leads 41-23 Last Meeting: 66-62 Tennessee win, Jan. 20, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. GAME STORYLINES – South Carolina is in its 107th season of varsity basketball in 2014-15. – The Gamecocks are led by third-year head coach Frank Martin. His associate head coach is Matt Figger, his assistant coaches are Perry Clark and Lamont Evans, and his director of operations is Andy Assaley. – South Carolina battled back from a 20-point deficit to take an 11-point lead in the final minutes, but 18th-ranked Arkansas finished Thursday’s game on an 8-1 run over the final two minutes and 30 seconds to close a 78-74 win over the Gamecocks. South Carolina shot an SEC season high 50.1 percent (25-49) in the contest. – Senior guard Tyrone Johnson scored 18 points and matched an SEC season high with six assists to go along with three steals vs. the Razorbacks, but the senior floor general was sidelined for the final two minutes and 29 seconds of the game due to cramps in his legs. – South Carolina has not won in Knoxville since the 2002 campaign, and aims to snap a 15-game Tennessee win streak in the series on Saturday. – The Gamecocks average 57.2 points per game on the road this season. Sophomore guard Duane Notice scores a team best 13.1 points per road game. – Sophomore guard Sindarius Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 17 points vs. Tennessee earlier this season. He hit 8-of-9 attempts from the free throw line, and pulled down seven rebounds as well. – South Carolina snapped a two-game winless streak with a convincing 81-68 win over visiting Mississippi State on Feb. 28. The Gamecocks connected on 46.3 percent (25-54) of their attempts from the floor. Three were in double figures, but Johnson led the pack with a career high 28 points. He also had career numbers from the free throw line, hitting on 13-of-15 attempts. Junior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius shined again, hitting his career high for the second-straight contest with 18 points, while adding nine rebounds. – South Carolina currently sits in 11th place in the most updated SEC standings (March 6). – Freshman guard Marcus Stroman returned for the Gamecocks at Alabama after missing the previous four games due to a throat infection. Stroman saw 14 minutes of action vs. the Crimson Tide. Stroman, however, was unavailable for the Mississippi State contest due to a recurrence of the throat infection. He returned again to the lineup vs. Arkansas, scoring five points and dishing two assists in 20 minutes off the bench. – South Carolina has four victories this season over teams in the top 50 of the RPI (March 6) in Iowa State (14), Georgia (35, twice) and Oklahoma State (41). SCOUTING TENNESSEE Tennessee enters Saturday’s matchup with a 15-14 overall record, which includes a 7-10 mark in SEC games. The Vols are currently tied for ninth in the league standings, but would be the 10th seed at next week’s SEC Tournament, as they are tied with Alabama, and the Crimson Tide won the only head-to-head meeting between the two schools. Senior guard Josh Richardson leads the team and ranks sixth in the SEC with 15.7 points per game, while his 2.0 steals per outing lead the league. Junior forward Armani Moore also contributes double figures with 11.1 points and a team high 6.9 rebounds per outing. The Vols have a 9-6 record in home games, but have lost four-straight at Thompson-Boling Arena entering Saturday’s matchup vs. the Gamecocks, and UT holds just a 2-6 record in league games in Knoxville. UT most recently posted a 78-63 victory on the road at LSU. Richardson led the squad with 20 points, three assists and five steals in the win over the Tigers. Head coach Donnie Tyndall is in his first season at Tennessee. TENNESSEE SERIES UT leads the all-time series vs. South Carolina 41-23 after a 66-62 win in Columbia on Jan. 20, which marked Tennessee’s 15th-straight win in the series. The Vols hold a 24-7 advantage in games played in Knoxville and have won the last 11 meetings on their home court. The teams played twice last season, first in Knoxville, with UT posting a 72-53 win, and then in Atlanta at the SEC Tournament, with Tennessee claiming a 59-44 victory.