Gameday vs South Carolina

The South Carolina men’s basketball team returns to the court on Wednesday night but are as far away from home as can be and still be in the Southeastern Conference. The Gamecocks (11-8, 3-3) take the court against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena, one of the top basketball venues in the league. The contest presents a tremendous opportunity for head coach Frank Martin and his team, as the Razorbacks (15-4, 3-3) have a NET Ranking of No. 28.

Tip-off essentials
Opponent: Arkansas (15-4, 3-3)
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Bud Walton Arena (19,200)
Television: SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Andy Kennedy
Local Radio: Gamecock Radio Network with Derek Scott and Casey Manning
XM Radio: 380
Series: Arkansas leads 20-14
Last meeting: 77-65 win for South Carolina on February 9, 2019 in Columbia

South Carolina Notes

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From USC Athletics Communications and Public Relations

-- South Carolina is back on the road for its midweek matchup when it travels to face Arkansas on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena. The contest marks the first between the two schools in Fayetteville since the 2018 SEC regular season.

-- The Gamecock offense was on fire in Carolina's 90-64 win over Vanderbilt at home on Saturday. Eleven different Gamecocks marked the scoring column, with five of those in double figures led by 14 from both AJ Lawson and Justin Minaya. Minaya pulled down a career best 12 rebounds - six on the offensive glass - for his second-career double-double. As a team, Carolina hit 33-of-61 from the field (54.1%) and 17-of-24 (70.8%) at the free throw line.

-- Rookie forward Jalyn McCreary posted the first double-figure scoring game of his career with 11 in the win vs. Vanderbilt. In SEC action, McCreary has hit 11-of-13 attempts - 84.6% - and is averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest.

-- In its 11 wins, the Carolina defense is holding opponents to just 35.8 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from 3-point range.

-- The Gamecocks are 4-2 on the road this season, and are 26-35 (42.6%) in road contests dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.

-- Wednesday's game at Arkansas marks another quadrant 1 opportunity for the Gamecocks and a win would give the Garnet and Black three Q1 wins this season (at Virginia, vs. Kentucky).

-- South Carolina and LSU are the only SEC schools with four road wins this season.

Probable Gamecocks StartersG- No. 5 Jermaine Couisnard – 10.7 ppg / 2.9 rpg
G- No. 00 A.J. Lawson – 13.7 ppg / 3.1 rpg
G- No. 10 Justin Minaya – 8.1 ppg / 6.3 rpg
F- No. 15 Keyshawn Bryant – 8.2 ppg / 2.8 rpg
F- No. 21 Maik Kotsar – 9.2 ppg / 6.2 rpg

Arkansas notes

-- Arkansas is 11-1 in home games this season with its lone loss coming on Jan. 18 vs. Kentucky. The Razorbacks have SEC home wins over Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

-- Arkansas most recently posted a 78-67 win over TCU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

-- The Razorbacks have lost two-straight SEC games entering Wednesday's matchup vs. the Gamecocks.

-- Three average double-figures for Arkansas, led by Mason Jones' 18.4 points per outing. Isaiah Joe (16.8) and Jimmy Whitt Jr. (15.3) are also in double figures.

-- Arkansas leads the nation in opponent 3-point field goal percent, as the Razorbacks are holding their competition to just 24.3 percent (81-333) from 3-point range this season.

-- In the SEC stats (overall games), Arkansas is fifth in free throw percent (73.7%), sixth in field goal percent defense (40.0%), first in 3-point field goal percent defense (24.3%), first in steals (8.6) and second in assist to turnover ratio (1.1).

Quotes from Frank Martin

“It’s 17,000 people are waiting for you when you walk onto the court to shoot warm-up shots. Your guys walk out, they’re going to shoot some balls, and the arena is going nuts already. Home court environments are not just about 10 minutes to go in the game, they’re about an hour before the game and they have that. That makes it a challenge. Once the game starts, the fans are out the window. That energy you feel as an opposing player when you walk into a building an hour before the game, that can impact a team, especially young players. For us, we’ve played a bunch of road games and been fortunate enough to have success in a handful of them. I hope it doesn’t impact us; it did at Auburn. The game was impacted by the energy in the building at Auburn.

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“But they also have their whole team back. (First year head coach Eric Musselmen) is real similar to (former head coach Mike Anderson). They’re very aggressive offensive teams, very aggressive defensive teams, so style of coaching, even though it’s new, fits the personnel that have been recruited. They were good last year, so Muss has done a great job of sustaining that confidence that those kids had last year, and they’re all back. Mason Jones, Harris, Joe, Jimmy Whitt is back. Jimmy Whitt is basically a four-year starter. They’ve got tremendous depth.” -- South Carolina head coach Frank Martin on what makes Bud Walton Arena and Arkansas so difficult

“He’s an elite level shooter. When you play on a team that has so much aggressive, downhill guard play as they do, it’s going to create open threes for you. His threes this year are a little different than last year because they don’t have the low post scorer and rebounder, but they offensive rebound. They’re getting his threes more off the fact that they’ve all played together and understand each other. I don’t know if he’ll play or not.” -- South Carolina head coach Frank Martin on guard Isaiah Joe and if he will play this weekend