Aggies Look to Rebound at South Carolina

Saturday, January 7

Columbia, S.C.

12:30 PM

Texas A&M

South Carolina

Jan 06, 2017 | Men's Basketball

SEC Men's Basketball Texas A&M Game Notes South Carolina Basketball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Aggie Basketball Game #14:
Texas A&M (8-5; 0-2 SEC) at South Carolina (11-3; 1-0 SEC)
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 · 12:30 p.m. (CT)
Colonial Life Arena (18,000) · Columbia, S.C.

TV: CBS (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
   Spero Dedes, Play-by-Play
   Clark Kellogg, Commentary

RADIO: WTAW 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
   Dave South, Play-by-Play
   Mike Caruso, Commentary

SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius 119 / XM Ch. 191
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com

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COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M men's basketball goes to South Carolina in hunt of its first SEC win when the Aggies face the Gamecocks at 12:30 p.m. (CT) inside Colonial Life Arena.

The contest will be nationally televised on CBS with Spero Dedes calling the play-by-play and Clark Kellogg providing color commentary. Additionally, radio coverage will be provided on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW (1620 AM).

The visit to the Palmetto State will be just the third for Texas A&M had never faced South Carolina anywhere on the hardwood prior to the Aggies joining the SEC for the 2012-13 campaign.

South Carolina (11-3; 0-1 SEC) opened league play Wednesday when the Gamecocks defeated Georgia 67-61 in Athens, Ga., while the Aggies enter the weekend looking to rebound after dropping contests to Tennessee and No. 6 Kentucky to begin their conference schedule.

SETTING THE SCENE

• The Aggies aim to shake off a two-game losing streak to open conference play as they travel to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina inside Colonial Life Arena.
• Texas A&M and South Carolina had never meet on the hardwood prior to the Aggies entrance into the SEC for the 2012-13 campaign ... The all-time series now stands at 3-2 in favor of A&M, but the Gamecocks won the lone meeting between the schools last season, 81-78, inside Reed Arena.

AGGIES AMONG THE SEC & NATIONAL LEADERS (Through 1/4 games)

• The Aggies rank 15^th nationally in blocked shots per game with an average of 5.9 per contest
• On the offensive end, A&M has been efficient, ranking third in SEC by shooting 46.8 percent from the field as a team as well as second in SEC in assists with an average of 17.2 per contest ... The Aggies are 40^th nationally with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio (second in SEC).
• In the SEC rebounding column, A&M checks in at fourth in rebounding margin at +5.3 while ranking second the entire league in offensive rebound percentage at 39.4 percent ... The Aggies are 15^th nationally in offensive rebounds per game.
• Nationally, the Aggies rank 14^th in fewest fouls this season (216).
• Rookie Robert Williams continues to stand out as one of the SEC's brightest freshman, ranking second in the league with 33 blocked shots for an average of 2.5 per game.
• Sophomore Tyler Davis leads the SEC in field goal percentage, shooting 60.7 percent from the field ... He also ranks seventh in the SEC in total rebounding at 7.3 per contest while pacing the league on the offensive glass at 3.7 offensive rebounds per outing.
• Second-year guard Admon Gilder appears throughout the lists of SEC statistical leaders, ranking second in steals per game (2.0), fourth in minutes played (31.9) and seventh in assists per game (4.3).
• Sophomore DJ Hogg continues to rank among the SEC's top sharpshooters, checking in at eighth in the league by shooting 39.0 percent from long range while making 2.3 3-point baskets per contest, third in the SEC.

TRENDS & SUPERLATIVES

• Freshman Robert Williams collected a swat in all 13 games this season to post the longest streak by an Aggie since Bryan Davis had a 17-game block streak from Nov. 29, 2009 to Feb. 3, 2010.
• Redshirt sophomore Chris Collins made his first career start in Tuesday's loss at Kentucky ... The Friendswood, Texas, native contributed five points on 2-of-3 shooting in a career-best 22 minutes during the game.
• Along with senior Tavario Miller, who drew just his second career start, the insertion of Collins into the starting lineup brought to an end a 12-game streak during which Texas A&M used the same starting five (Gilder, Hampton, Hogg, Trocha-Morelos & Davis) this season.

NOTING SOUTH CAROLINA

• The Gamecocks bring an 11-3 record into Saturday's affair as well as a 1-0 ledger in SEC play after opening conference action with a 67-61 victory at Georgia on Wednesday night.
• South Carolina was boosted by the return of preseason All-SEC honoree Sindarius Thornwell to the court against the Bulldogs ... The senior was suspended Dec. 4 and missed five games before rejoining the team Wednesday at Georgia where he carded a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards ... Thornwell leads USC in both scoring (18.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.3 rebounds per contest)
• A pair of Gamecocks have earned SEC Player of the Week honors the season with Thornwell selected on Nov. 28 and sophomore guard PJ Dozier garnering the recognition a week later on Dec. 5 ... Before the season, South Carolina was picked eighth in a preseason poll of media that covers the league.
• Led by head coach Frank Martin, who is in his fifth season at USC, the Gamecocks narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament last year before they finished 25-9 overall and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

SERIES HISTORY VS SOUTH CAROLINA (A&M LEADS 3-2)

• Saturday will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Aggies & Gamecocks on the hardwood.
• This will be the Aggies' third visit to USC's Colonial Life Arena and first since Feb. 21, 2015 ... A&M is 1-1 inside the facility.
• Last season, the Gamecocks earned a hard-fought 81-78 victory over the Aggies in College Station ... USC's Sindarius Thornwell scored a game-high 25 points in the win, while A&M was led by 16 points from both Alex Caruso and Jalen Jones.
• USC head coach Frank Martin is no stranger to the Aggies after facing the Aggies seven times while head coach at Kansas State (2007-12) ... Martin is 7-5 all-time vs. Texas A&M.
• Aggie coach Billy Kennedy is 3-2 against the Gamecocks.

UP NEXT AFTER THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAME

Texas A&M returns home to Reed Arena where it will host LSU on Wednesday, Jan. 11, in a 7:30 p.m. contest ... The game is slated to be broadcast on SEC Network.