South Carolina (5-9, 3-7 SEC) travels to face No. 19/20 Tennessee (14-5, 7-5 SEC) on Wednesday night in Knoxville at 9 p.m. ET. Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) will have the call for the SEC Network broadcast, while Derek Scott (play-by-play) and Casey Manning (analyst) will have the call over the air on the Gamecock Radio Network.
TIPOFF NOTABLES
> South Carolina will play three of its final five regular season games on the road, beginning with Wednesday's matchup at No. 19/20 Tennessee. Carolina looks for its first win in Knoxville since the 2017 SEC regular season.
> The Gamecocks pulled to within five of the Rebel lead with 17 seconds to play, but Ole Miss guard Devontae Shuler blocked a Gamecock shot attempt, and then sealed the win with a pair of free throws at the opposite end, as the Rebels posted an 81-74 win on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena.
> Sophomore forward Wildens Leveque (13) and sophomore guard Trae Hannibal (12) each posted career-high points vs. Ole Miss.
> Junior guard AJ Lawson continues to shine on the offensive end. The Toronto native scored 22 vs. Ole Miss, his seventh 20-point performance in SEC play this season. He connected on four 3-pointers, his ninth game this season (overall games) with three or more makes from beyond the arc.
> Junior forward Nathan Nelson connected on a 3-pointer and also dished out an assist vs. the Rebels. Nelson has hit a 3 in four of his last five outings and is 4-of-5 from 3 this season.
> South Carolina jumped out to an early lead on No. 11/11 Alabama last Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena, but the Crimson Tide battled back to take a three-point lead into the halftime break. The contest featured five lead changes and seven ties, but the Crimson Tide clinched the win with a pair of free throws from James Rojas with two seconds to play.
> The Gamecock defense forced 22 Alabama turnovers, and held the Crimson Tide to just 38.2 percent from the field, but Alabama hit 12 3s, compared to Carolina's six, and UA added 17 at the free throw line.
> South Carolina suffered a 75-59 loss to Mississippi State on Feb. 6 at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks hit just 31.1 percent of their attempts from the floor (19-61), and the Bulldogs connected on 46.4 percent (26-56) in the win. Carolina was also out-rebounded, as MSU held a 46-30 advantage on the glass.
SCOUTING THE VOLUNTEERS
> Tennessee is 14-5 overall and 7-5 in SEC play
after most recently suffering a 78-65 loss at LSU on Saturday.
> Head coach Rick Barnes is in his sixth season leading the Volunteers.
> UT began its season with a string of seven straight wins.
> The Vols are 11-2 in home games this season and 4-2 in SEC home games.
> Freshman guard Jaden Springer leads UT with 12.2 points per game. Rookie guard Keon Johnson (10.2) is the only other Vol in double figures for the year, however, seven average at least 8.9 points per game for Tennessee.
> Senior guard/forward Yves Pons is fifth in the SEC with 1.6 blocks per game, and as a team, UT is 27th in the nation with 4.7 blocks per outing.
> The Volunteer defense is strong this season, ranking 15th nationally, holding opponents to just 61.7 points per game.
> Tennessee is averaging 76.7 points per game in home games this season.
ODDS AND ENDS
> A couple random notes and factoids ...
- Four Gamecocks have at least 120 career assists, led by Seventh Woods with 166, AJ Lawson (163), then Jermaine Couisnard (145) and Justin Minaya (126)
- Lawson has 12 double-figure scoring games this season with eight of those 20+
- Prior to its contest vs. Mississippi State, in its previous three games, Carolina made at least 31 field goals in each, with a season high 33 in the home win vs. Georgia (Jan. 27)
- Among the SEC's active career leaders, Lawson is third in scoring (1,054) and tied for fifth in steals (91)
MINAYA STRONG ON THE GLASS
> R-junior forward Justin Minaya is having a career year on both ends of the floor this season. Minaya paces the Gamecocks with 6.9 rebounds per contest, which is +1.6 rebounds per game over his career average. He has three double-doubles on the year, and also paces the Gamecocks with 2.92 offensive rebounds per game, which is fourth in the SEC and 51st nationally.
> In strictly SEC games, Minaya's 6.8 boards per game is eighth in the conference. He has two double-doubles in league games, and pulled down a season best 11 rebounds at No. 19 Mizzou (Jan. 19).
BY THE NUMBERS
35.4 - The South Carolina duo of AJ Lawson (19.1) and Keyshawn Bryant (16.3) average a combined 35.4 points per SEC game this season, which is the second-ranked tandem in league play behind LSU's Cameron Thomas and Trendon Watford, who average a combined 38.2 points per league outing.
22 - Junior guard AJ Lawson posted his eighth 20+ point outing of the season with a team high 22 vs. Ole Miss on Saturday. It was the 20th 20-point performance of his career.
17.14 - The Gamecocks are forcing 17.14 opponent turnovers per game (overall games), which is an SEC best, and 13th nationally. Carolina has forced a combined 63 turnovers in its last three games.
13 - Sophomore forward Wildens Leveque scored a career high 13 vs. Ole Miss on Saturday. It was his fourth-career double-figure scoring performance.
COMING UP NEXT
> Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena to host No. 20/19 Missouri on Saturday. Tip time versus the Tigers is set for 2 p.m. ET for the ESPN2 broadcast. Mizzou posted an 81-70 win over the visiting Gamecocks in Columbia, Mo., on Jan. 19.