Gamecocks At No. 10 Houston Saturday Evening

Men's Basketball | 12/4/2020 FROM USC SPORTS INFORMATION BY GCF STAFF

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina (1-1) travels to face No. 10 Houston (3-0) on Saturday for a 6 p.m. ET matchup on ESPN+.  The meeting is the first between the two schools in The Lone Star state since the 1974-75 season.  Below is game information on the matchup.

GAME INFORMATIONL
Arena:  Fertitta Center (8,479)
Broadcast: ESPN+
  Play-By-Play: Matt Thomas
  Analyst: Reid Gettys
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
  In Columbia: 107.5 The Game
  Play-By-Play: Derek Scott
  Analyst: Casey Manning
  Sirius: - | XM: - | Internet: 981
Watch: WatchESPN/ESPN App
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Houston Series: Series is tied at 3-3
  In Houston: Houston leads 2-0
  Series Trend: The Cougars posted their first win away from home in the series last season in Columbia
  Last Meeting: 76-56 Houston win on Dec. 8, 2019, in Columbia

TIPOFF NOTABLES
> South Carolina continues non-conference action when it travels to No. 10/18 Houston on Saturday for a matchup against the Cougars at the Fertitta Center.  The series between the two schools is knotted at 3-3, after a 76-56 Houston win in Columbia last season.
> In its most recent outing, Carolina held Tulsa scoreless for 9+ minutes in the second half and used a 15-0 run to close a 69-58 win over the Golden Hurricane at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City last weekend.  The win was Carolina's first on the year, and improved the Gamecocks' record to 1-1 after opening action in Kansas City with a 78-62 loss to Liberty (Nov. 28).
> Junior guard AJ Lawson was named to the Hall of Fame Classic All-Tournament Team after a pair of double-figure scoring outings at the event.  Lawson led the Gamecocks with 12 vs. Liberty, before a 17-point outing behind four 3s in the win over Tulsa.  On the weekend, Lawson was 6-of-13 (46.2%) from range, while also dishing out three assists and collecting three steals.
> Saturday's matchup at Houston marks Carolina's third straight away from home to start the 2020-21 campaign.  The last time Carolina opened with multiple games away from Columbia was in the 2001-02 campaign when the Gamecocks played their first three matchups of the season at the Maui Invitational to open the year.
> R-sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard led Carolina with 20 points in the win vs. Tulsa.  It marked the third 20-point outing of his career.  Dating back to the start of SEC play last season, he has now hit double-figures in 16 of his last 19 games.
> Martin is 33-45 (.423) against ranked opponents as a head coach. His teams have four wins over opponents ranked in the top five, and two wins over opponents who are ranked No. 1.
> A pair of Gamecocks collected preseason honors from both the media and SEC coaches during the preseason.  Junior guard AJ Lawson earned preseason All-SEC Second-Team accolades from the media, while Lawson (First Team) and Couisnard (Second Team) were honored by the SEC coaches on the preseason teams.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
> Houston is ranked No. 10 in this week's AP poll after opening the campaign with a trio of wins last week - vs. Lamar and Boise State, and a neutral-site win over Texas Tech.
> Kelvin Sampson is in his sixth season leading the Cougars.  
> Sampson led his team to a 23-8 overall record last season, including a 13-5 mark in American Athletic Conference games en route to winning the league.
> Houston is 2-0 at home this season, and was 14-2 in home games in 2019-20.
> Three are averaging double figures for the Cougars entering Saturday's matchup against Carolina, led by Marcus Sasser's 17.3 points per game.  Quentin Grimes (16.0) and Tramon Mark (14.0) are also averaging double figures thus far.
> Houston owns a +14.3 rebound margin over its oppnents, with five different players averaging at least 5.7 rebounds per game.  Grimes and DeJon Jarreau pace the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.

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