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South Carolina Hits the Road for a Meeting with the No. 10 Houston Cougars

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Basketball

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.

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.
• Cougar opponents are averaging 17.7 turnovers per contest through the first three games of 2020-21.

GAMECOCK NOTES TO KNOW
• Head coach Frank Martin is in his ninth season leading the Gamecocks in 2020-21. He is joined by assistant coaches Will Bailey, Chuck Martin and Bruce Shingler, while Andy Assaley is the director of operations for the squad.
• Junior guard AJ Lawson is Carolina's top returning scorer after pacing the team with 13.4 points per game last season. He averaged the same during his rookie campaign, and is just 167 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
• Five who started the majority of SEC games last season return to the court for Carolina. Lawson, sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard, who paced the team in league play at 12.1 points per game, junior forward Keyshawn Bryant, junior forward Justin Minaya (missed nine SEC games due to injury last season) and junior forward Alanzo Frink.
• South Carolina returns a core group from last season's squad that finished the shortened campaign with an 18-13 overall record. The Gamecocks return three of their top five scorers, including Lawson (13.4 ppg), Couisnard (12.1 ppg) and junior forward Keyshawn Bryant (9.1 ppg). Junior forward Justin Minaya, who missed nine games last season due to injury, added 7.8 points per game in 2019-20.
• From last season, the biggest absence from the lineup will be graduated four-year starter Maik Kotsar. Kotsar had a career year, averaging 11.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while also leading the Gamecocks in blocks (1.1 per game) and steals at 1.5 per outing in 2019-20. Kotsar, who was a starter during his rookie season on Carolina's 2017 Final Four squad, also played a team high 30.4 minutes per game a year ago.
• Other non-conference matchups away from home for the Gamecocks include a road game at George Washington (Dec. 14).
• Home non-conference matchups for Carolina include: Wofford (Dec. 10), Clemson (Dec. 19), SC State (Dec. 23) and Florida A&M (Jan. 2).

BY THE NUMBERS
10.0 - Through the first two games of the season, Carolina is averaging 10 steals per outing, with a high of 13 steals in the win vs. Tulsa. On the year, seven different Gamecocks have collected at least two steals, led by R-sophomore TJ Moss' five steals on the year.
6 - South Carolina had six road wins last season, including three in non-conference action. The Gamecocks also had a top-10 road win last season, defeating No. 9/7 Virginia in Charlottesville in late December.
73.4% - South Carolina returns 73.4 percent of its scoring from last season, including leading scorer, junior guard AJ Lawson who averaged 13.4 points per game.
7.5 - Minaya's 7.5 rebounds per game lead the Gamecocks and rank ninth in the SEC. He led the Gamecocks with nine in the win over Tulsa.

COMING UP NEXT
South Carolina will host Wofford on Thursday, Dec. 10, in its home opener at Colonial Life Arena. The matchup will be broadcast on the SEC Network and is set for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff.