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South Carolina Men's Basketball Closes Out the Regular-Season at Kentucky

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Basketball

South Carolina (6-13, 4-11 SEC) travels to face Kentucky (8-15, 7-9 SEC) on Saturday in the regular season finale for both schools.

Tip time for the matchup is set for Noon ET, and Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) will have the call for the ESPN 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 travels to face Kentucky in the regular season finale for both schools on Saturday at Rupp Arena.  The Gamecocks have won two of the last three meetings versus the Wildcats, but look for their first win at Rupp since 2009.
> The Gamecocks suffered a 101-73 loss to No. 12 Arkansas in their home finale on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.  The Razorbacks hit 55.2 percent (37-67) from the field, and had three score 20+ led by freshman guard Moses Moody's 28.  Junior guard AJ Lawson led the Gamecocks with 18 points, connecting on four attempts from 3-point range.
> South Carolina snapped its six-game losing streak with a 91-70 road win at Georgia last Saturday, marking the 10th straight Gamecock win over the Bulldogs, and Carolina's fifth consecutive in Athens.  Four Gamecocks were in double figures, led by R-sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard's season high 23.  
> Sophomore guard Trae Hannibal continued his hot streak on the offensive end.  The Hartsville, S.C., native was 6-of-8 from the field at UGA, en route to matching his career high of 15 points.  He also dished out a team high five assists, pulled down a team high eight rebounds and collected a career high four steals in the Carolina win.  
> Rookie forward Tre-Vaughn Minott earned the first start of his career last Saturday at Georgia.  The Montreal native began the game 3-of-3 from the floor, and finished with a season high six points and three rebounds in the Carolina win.
> The Gamecocks suffered a 69-48 road loss at Mississippi State on Feb. 23.  Carolina hit a season low 29.0% from the field, and 19.0% from 3-point range, in the loss.  Junior forward Keyshawn Bryant's 14 points marked a team high, and TJ Moss dished out a team best four assists.
> Junior guard AJ Lawson poured in another 20-point performance with a game high 22, and sophomore guard Trae Hannibal and junior forward Keyshawn Bryant each added 15, but the Gamecocks suffered a 93-78 loss to No. 20/19 Missouri at Colonial Life Arena (Feb. 20).  The Tigers hit 57.6 percent from the field and held a 16-point halftime advantage in the win.
> Hannibal was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, with a pair of 3s, and also a 1-1 mark at the free throw line vs. the Tigers.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
> Kentucky is 8-15 overall this season and 7-9 in SEC contests.
> Head coach John Calipari is in his 12th season leading the Wildcats.
> In home games this season, UK is 4-6, including a 3-4 mark in SEC home games.
> Five average double-figure points for UK, led by Brandon Boston Jr.'s 11.6 points per game.  Mintz (11.0), Clarke (10.7), Brooks Jr. (10.6) and Sarr (10.5) also average double figures.
> Brooks Jr. leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game.
> As a team, UK leads the nation in blocked shots per game at 6.1 per outing.  
> Isaiah Jackson paces the team with 2.70 blocks per game, which is an SEC best and ranks 12th nationally.  
> The Wildcats are fourth in the SEC and 41st in the nation with 12.04 offensive rebounds per game.

ODDS AND ENDS
> A couple random notes and factoids ...
  - Four Gamecocks have at least 120 career assists, led by Seventh Woods with 175, AJ Lawson (167), then Jermaine Couisnard (149) and Justin Minaya (132)
  - Lawson has 17 double-figure scoring games this season with 10 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 (1,135) and fifth in steals (98)

MINAYA STRONG ON THE GLASS
> R-junior forward Justin Minaya paces the Gamecocks with 6.6 rebounds per contest, which is +1.2 rebounds per game over his career average.  He has three double-doubles on the year, and also paces the Gamecocks with 2.67 offensive rebounds per game, which is fifth in the SEC and 81st nationally.
> In strictly SEC games, Minaya's 6.5 boards per game is ninth 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
33.9 - The South Carolina duo of AJ Lawson (18.1) and Keyshawn Bryant (15.8) average a combined 33.9 points per SEC game this season, which is the third-ranked tandem in league play behind LSU's Cameron Thomas and Trendon Watford (38.5) and Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. and Dylan Disu (36.3).
3.3 - Junior guard AJ Lawson has made multiple 3s in 13 SEC contests this season, and has made three or more in 11 of those.  He paces the SEC in league games with 3.3 made 3s per outing.
16.84 - The Gamecocks are forcing 16.84 opponent turnovers per game (overall games), which is an SEC best, and 12th nationally.  
15 - South Carolina's 15 steals in the win at Georgia marked the first time the Gamecocks had 15 steals in a game since an 89-79 win over Vanderbilt in Columbia on Jan. 16, 2010, when Carolina also had 15.

GAMECOCKS ADD TRE-VAUGHN MINOTT
> Tre-Vaughn Minott, a freshman center from Montreal, has joined the Gamecocks and is immediately eligible for competition.  Minott has been at the NBA Academy Latin America since Sept. 2019.  During his time at the Academy, his squad competed at the National Prep School Invitational in Rhode Island and at The Skill Factory Tournament of Champions in Atlanta in 2020.