COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (5-2) remains home as it welcomes in Virgina Tech (6-2) for the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with arena doors opening 1 hour prior.
The first 1,500 students in The Cockpit tomorrow night will receive a free t-shirt. There will also be free pizza for the first 500 students. For more information on student ticketing, click here.
Carolina is running a 6-7 ticket deal until 11:59 p.m. tonight for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Upper deck seats for tomorrow night’s game are only $6.70 and available for purchase here.
Anish Shroff (pxp) and Chris Spatola (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.
Head coach Lamont Paris is 2-0 in previous ACC/SEC Challenge games with wins over Notre Dame in 2023 and at Boston College in 2024. Carolina is 2-0 against the Hokies the last two seasons, defeating them on neutral floors both times. It will be the first time the Gamecocks have hosted Virginia Tech since Jan. 16, 1991 in Metro Conference play.
Carolina recently snapped a two-game losing skid last time out with a 74-62 win over Charleston Southern on Black Friday. Junior transfer forward Elijah Strong scored 20 of his season-high 22 points in the second half. Redshirt senior transfer guard Kobe Knox added 15 points and senior transfer Nordin Kapic had 11 points in his first start since the Southern Miss game back on Nov. 9.
Virginia Tech started the season 6-0 after winning its opening game in the Battle 4 Atlantis, 66-64, over Colorado State on Nov. 26. The Hokies dropped their next two games in the Bahamas, falling 77-66 to St. Mary’s on Nov. 27 and 86-68 to VCU on Nov. 28. Led by seventh-year, veteran head coach Mike Young, Virginia Tech has a balanced offensive attack with seven players averaging 8.4 or more points and five who average double-figures.
West Virginia transfer forward Amani Hansberry is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game. Talented freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas averages 13.8 points and a team-high 4.6 assists per game. Athletic forward Tobi Lawal averages a double-double with 12.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He’s 50.0% (25-of-50) from the floor this season in six games played. Sophomore guard Tyler Johnson leads the team in field goal percentage (54.9%), averaging 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Two experienced transfers round out their backcourt in Jailen Bedford (UNLV) and Jaden Schutt (started at Duke and was at VT last season). They both average 10.3 points per game and shoot over 40.0% from the floor from behind the 3-point line. Schutt comes off the bench alongside guard Ben Hammond, who averages 8.4 points and 4.3 assists per game. Thru eight contests, the Hokies have averaged 82.6 points per game.
GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Anish Shroff
ANALYST: Chris Spatola
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, 20-13
IN COLUMBIA: Gamecocks lead, 12-3
SERIES TREND: Gamecocks have won three-straight dating back to 74-73 win on Dec. 5 1997 in the Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge. Carolina 2-0 vs. the Hokies last two seasons on neutral floor.
LAST MEETING: 70-60 Gamecock win in the third-place game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Nov. 27 last season.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
12-1 – The Gamecocks have an 12-1 record under Lamont Paris when shooting 50.0% or higher. The lone loss came in his 1st season in 2022-23 at Missouri.
16-0 – The Gamecocks are 16-0 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
43-9 – The Gamecocks are 43-9 in four seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.827 win %).
442 – Johnson (199) and Stute (243) have combined to make 442 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 243 career 3s are T-15th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 199 3s rank 40th.
1,000 – Stute recently scored his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer early in the game vs. Radford (Nov. 18).
470 – Stute (137), Johnson (123), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (106) and Kobe Knox (104) have combined to play 470 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (T-5th) and Johnson T-26th) both rank inside the top-30 on the active games played list in Division I.
25 – Johnson became the 25th different player for South Carolina since the 2004-05 season to record a 30-point game with his career-high 33 points vs. Southern Miss on Nov. 9. He, Brenton Williams (2014) and Devan Downey (2009) are the only Gamecocks to have a 30-point game with seven or more made 3s.
43 – Johnson became the 43rd player in the SEC to hit seven or more 3s in a game over the last five seasons. Stute is also on that list, making seven 3s twice while at Vanderbilt in games at Temple (11/15/22) and at Texas A&M (1/28/23).
3 – Grant Polk joined Justin Edwards (Kentucky in 2024) and Kennedy Chandler (Tennessee in 2021) as just the 3rd SEC freshman over the last five seasons to record a game with four or more made 3s and no misses. Polk was 4-for-4 from behind the arc in a win over PC on Nov. 12.
2 – Hayden Assemian became the 2nd Gamecock freshman over the last seven seasons, joining Collin-Murray Boyles (2024 vs. Vanderbilt), to record a game with six or more offensive rebounds.Assemian had a team-high eight rebounds in a win over PC on Nov. 12, six coming on the offensive glass.
7-0 – Carolina was 7-0 last season when holding its opponents below 40.0% shooting from the floor. The Gamecocks are 2-0 this season when accomplishing the defensive feat.
6-0 – The Gamecocks are 6-0 all-time under Paris when the team shoots 50.0 percent or higher from behind the arc.
7-0 – The team is also 7-0 all-time (2-0 this season) under Paris when dishing out 20 or more assists. Five of those six games came in the historic 2023-24 season with a high of 25 helpers in the win at Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024. Carolina dished out 24 assists on 31 made field goals in the 91-72, season-opening win against NC A&T (Nov. 4).
67 – Carolina has hit 67 3s (9.6 3FG per game) in the first six games of the season with a combined 337different players hitting a shot from behind the arc in the seven ball games (average of 5.3 different players hitting a 3FG per game).
9-0 – The Gamecocks are 9-0 under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs. Carolina made 34 field goals (team high in the Paris era), shooting 57.6% (another team high in the Paris era) in an 87-58 victory over Radford on Nov. 18.
34 – The team made 34 free throws in an 84-69 win over Texas on Feb. 22 last season, the most in the Lamont Paris era at Carolina. The last time the Gamecocks hit 30 or more free throws in a game was 35 made foul shots in the four OT thriller against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017.
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 last season.
18 – He has been a part of 18, 20-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach.
.696 – In his 17 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, teams associated with Paris were 497-217 (.696) with five conference titles and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching two Final Fours.
274 – The Gamecocks made 274 3s during the 2023-24 campaign, a new single-season program record.
344 – The team had just 344 turnovers in the 2023-24 season, the third-fewest all-time for a single season at Carolina.
8-3 – The Gamecocks were 8-3 in true road games during the 2023-24 season. The team won seven SEC games on the road, tying the 1996-97 SEC Champion squad for the most league road wins in program history since joining the SEC in 1991-92.
25 – Carolina held 25 opponents to less than 70 points in 2023-24, which T-4th nationally and led the SEC.
8-0 – The Gamecocks were 8-0 in 2023-24 when shooting 50.0% or better from the floor.
1998 – The team finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll, marking 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.
UP NEXT
South Carolina remains home for the next two games, first facing Stetson (3-6) on Saturday. Tip is set for 2 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network+ with Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call. The Gamecocks will then face The Citadel (2-6) the following Saturday at 7 p.m.
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