COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (1-0) remains home for the second of a four-game homestand to open the 2025-26 season, welcoming in Southern Miss (1-1) on Sunday night. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. (ET) with arena doors opening 1 hour prior to tipoff.
John Schriffen (pxp) and former Texas head coach Rodney Terry (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network linear broadcast.
It’s the first meeting between the two former Metro Conference foes since league play in the 1990-91 season.
There will be free pizza for the first 500 students attending the game in The Cockpit. For more information on The Cockpit and claiming student tickets, click here.
The Gamecocks had a solid opening night when earlier this week on Tuesday defeating NC A&T, 91-72. Five players scored in double-figures led by guard Meechie Johnson who stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Carolina hit 14 3s with nine different players making a shot from behind the arc. The Gamecocks also assisted on 24-of-31 made field goals as all 12 players who entered the game recorded at least one assist for Carolina.
GAME INFORMATION
TIME: 6:30 p.m. (ET)
VENUE: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Schriffen
ANALYST: Rodney Terry
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: Southern Miss leads, 11-8
IN COLUMBIA: Gamecocks lead, 7-3
SERIES TREND: Gamecocks lead 4-3 in last seven meetings dating back to 1988-89 season.
LAST MEETING: Metro Conference game in Hattiesburg on Feb. 16, 1991 – Golden Eagles won 62-58.
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.
13-0 – The Gamecocks are 13-0 record under Paris when scoring 80 or more points.
.918 – Lamont Paris’ teams have .918 win percentage (45-4) when scoring 80 or more points dating back to his first season as head coach at Chattanooga (2017-18).
40-9 – The Gamecocks are 40-9 in 3 seasons under Paris when holding teams below 70 points (.816 win %).
423 – Johnson (185) and Myles Stute (238) have combined to make 423 3s in their college careers. Stute’s 238 career 3s are 13th amongst active career leaders in Division I. Johnson’s 185 3s rank No. 41.
981 – Stute is closing in on the 1,000-point career scoring mark currently sitting at 981 points entering Sunday night’s matchup with the Golden Eagles.
448 – Stute (133), Johnson (117), transfers Mike Sharavjamts (100) and Kobe Knox (98) have combined to play 448 games at the NCAA Division I level bringing a wealth of experience to the Gamecocks’ backcourt. Stute (T-4th) and Johnson (T-24th) both rank inside top-25 on the active games played list.
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.
537 – Sharavjamts (268) and Johnson (269) have combined for 537 career assists. They each rank inside the top-80 of the active career assists list for Division I. 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.
6-0 – The team is 6-0 all-time under Paris when having 20 or more assists. 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.
37 – South Carolina had 24 assists in the opener against NC A&T, the second-most for a single-game in the Paris era in Columbia. All 12 players who entered the game for the Gamecocks recorded at least one assist. Per Stathead (database goes back to 2004-05 season), Carolina became the 37th team in Division I to have a game where 12 or more different players recorded an assist.
8-0 – The Gamecocks are 8-0 under Paris when the team makes 30 or more FGs. Carolina had 31 made field goals in the opening night victory over NC A&T on Nov. 4.
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 for its third game of a four-game homestand to open the season. The Gamecocks face Presbyterian (1-1) at 7 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday night at Colonial Life Arena. Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) are on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.
Carolina defeated the Blue Hose 69-59 in the non-conference finale last season. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series, 34-8, winning 11 of the last 12 matchups between the two in-state schools.
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