Struggling Gamecocks Face Vanderbilt in Road Game Saturday

GAME STORYLINES

– South Carolina is in its 109th season of varsity basketball in 2016-17.
– On the sidelines, Frank Martin is joined by associate head coach Matt Figger, assistant coaches Perry Clark and Bruce Shingler, and director of operations Andy Assaley.
– South Carolina remains in the national rankings this week, checking in at No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll. South Carolina has been ranked in the AP poll for nine weeks this season and in the Coaches Poll for 10.
– South Carolina captured its 20th win of the season last Saturday in Starkville. It marked the first time the Gamecocks have had back-to-back 20-wins seasons (25-9 during 2015-16 campaign) since the 2003-04 (23-11), the 2004-05 (20-13) and the 2005-06 (23-15) seasons when the Gamecocks posted three-straight 20-win campaigns.
– The Gamecocks posted their 10th SEC win of the season in Starkville as well, marking just the fifth double-digit win total in SEC play for Carolina in its 26-seasons in the league. It’s also just the second time that Carolina has had back-to-back seasons with double-digit league wins, as the Gamecocks posted 11 last season. (15 SEC wins in 1997, 11 in 1998).
– Carolina aims for its 11th SEC win of the campaign on Saturday at Vanderbilt. It would mark the second-straight season with 11 league wins, and it would tie for the second-most all-time (15 in 1997).
– South Carolina suffered its second-consecutive home loss on Wednesday, falling to Arkansas 83-76. The Razorbacks hit 53.6% from the floor, which included a 7-of-14 mark from 3-point range, in the win. Carolina hit 43.1 percent of its attempts, but Arkansas would lead the entire second half to pull away for the victory.
– SEC Player of the Year candidate Sindarius Thornwell continued his outstanding season on Wednesday vs. Arkansas. He scored a game high 27, hitting 10-of-19 from the floor with a pair of 3s. He was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, while dishing three assists, blocking two shots and collecting a steal.
– For his play last week vs. Alabama and Miss. State, Thornwell was named the SEC’s Player of the Week on Monday. He average 36.0 points and 12.5 rebounds to earn the honor.
– Thornwell has been named to the Naismith Trophy Top 30 list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Feb. 9. The list is comprised of the nation’s top players who are in consideration for the 2017 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year award.
– Thornwell has accounted for 32.9% of the team’s scoring over the course of the last five games.
– In league play, Carolina opponents are averaging 18.8 turnovers per contest. Most recently, Arkansas committed 13 turnovers on Feb. 15.
– Through 26 games this season, South Carolina has held the opposing team’s top scorer to below his season average in 21 of those games.
– South Carolina has forced at least 15 turnovers in every SEC game this season except the Arkansas game. Texas A&M’s 25 marked an opponent season high in the category, and Alabama was just behind with 24 giveaways.
– South Carolina currently leads the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 28.1 percent from beyond the arc this season.
– South Carolina leads the SEC in several defensive categories entering Saturday’s matchup at Vanderbilt. In overall games, Carolina is tops in scoring defense (63.8), FG% defense (39.3%) and 3-point FG% defense (28.1%), and is second in steals (8.0 per game). In strictly league games, Carolina is fourth in FG% defense (42.5%), first in 3-point FG% defense (30.2%) and second in steals (8.0 per game).
– Individually in the SEC statistics (overall games), Thornwell is second in scoring (21.2), fourth in rebounds (7.4), first in steals (2.2) and fifth in offensive rebounds per game (2.8). Dozier is sixth with 1.7 steals per outing.
– According to the NCAA statistics for games through Feb. 16, senior guard Sindarius Thornwell is the only guard in the nation to average at least 20 points and seven rebounds per game (based on positions listed on the NCAA website). He is one of just nine players overall to average 20 points and seven rebounds per game.

SCOUTING VANDERBILT

– The Commodores are 13-13 overall and hold a 6-7 record in league games after posting a 72-67 win over Texas A&M on Thursday night.
– Vandy is led by head coach Bryce Drew in his first season. He was previously the head coach at Valparaiso for five seasons.
– Vanderbilt ranks 57th in the most recent NCAA RPI (games through Feb. 16) and has six wins over RPI Top 100 teams.
– Four average double-figure points for the Commodores, led by junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis’ 15.2 per outing. He also leads the squad in league play with 14.7 points per game.
– Senior center Luke Kornet adds 13.5 points per outing, Jeff Roberson adds 10.7 per game and Riley LaChance provides 10.0 points per outing and dishes a team high 4.0 assists per game.
– Vanderbilt is historically one of the top 3-point shooting team’s in the SEC and the country. The Commodores lead the SEC with a 38.3 field goal percent from 3-point range, and Fisher-Davis is fourth in the league at 39.6 percent.
– Kornet is fourth in the SEC with 1.9 blocks per game. He most recently blocked five shots in Thursday’s win over A&M.
– The Commodores are 8-5 in homes games this season, including a 2-4 mark in SEC home contests.