Tulsa Takes on South Carolina in Hall of Fame Classic
11/29/2020 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #2: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (0-1, 0-0) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (0-1, 0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Sunday • Nov. 29, 2020 • 12:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: |
T-Mobile Center (18,972) • Kansas City, Mo. |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year South Carolina – Frank Martin (FIU '93), 9th year |
| TV: | ESPN2 | Chuckie Kempf (pxp) & Mark Adams (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 2nd Meeting (South Carolina leads series at 1-0 |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa (PDF) | South Carolina | American (PDF) |
The Game
• Tulsa will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in a neutral site matchup at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., during the final round of the Hall of Fame Classic powered by ShotTracker on ESPN2.
• The game will second contest for Tulsa this season ... the Gamecocks opened their season with a 78-62 loss to the Liberty Flames on Nov. 28.
Scouting the Gamecocks
• South Carolina was picked to finish eighth in the SEC Preseason Poll. The Gamecocks return four starters and 12 letterwinners from last season, when the team went 18-13 and 10-8 in conference play.
• The Gamecocks opened their season with a loss on Nov. 28 to Liberty, 78-62 ... they were led by AJ Lawson who scored 12 points and Keyshawn Bryant who had 10 points and 7 rebounds.
• Lawson is the leading scorer from the 2019-20 season averaging 13.4 points a game ... the junior was also the leader in three-point and free throw percentage ... South Carolina also returned SEC All-Freshman team member Jermaine Couisnard who averaged 12.1 points and 3.2 assists per game.
• The Gamecocks will look to fill the void left by SEC all-conference second team selection Maik Kotsar, who averaged 11.2 points and a team best 6.3 rebounds for South Carolina last season.
The Series
• This will be the 2nd contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Gamecocks.
• South Carolina holds a 1-0 series advantage over TU, with the only contest coming on Nov. 23, 2015 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands ... the Gamecocks won the contest with a final of 83-75.
A Tulsa Win Would
• Give the Hurricane their first win of the season.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against South Carolina to 1-1.
• Give Head Coach Haith his 117th win which would be tied with Ken Hayes for 4th all-time in Tulsa history.
Trio of New Faces Shine in Opener
• The trio of Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, Keshawn Williams and Rey Idowu all scored their first points as a Hurricane player.
• Embery-Simpson led the group scoring 14 points, lead Tulsa in the first half with 7 points ... Idowu finished the game with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
• Williams, the only freshman that saw action, scored 4 points, grabbed two rebounds and had two assists playing 18 minutes in the contest.
Leading By Example
• In the season opener against TCU, the four seniors, Brandon Rachal, Elijah Joiner, Darien Jackson and Emmanuel Ugboh combined for 39 points and 18 rebounds.
• The group led the team in points (Rachal-19), rebounds (Rachal-8), assists (Joiner-5), Steals (Joiner-3) and blocks (Rachal-2).
• Rachal (19) put in his 21st double-figure scoring game, while Joiner (10) added his 14th career double-digit scoring game.
• The four combined to go 17-28 (61-percent) from the field, grabbed 18 of the teams 32 rebounds and accounted for 8 assists, forcing 5 turnovers in the process.
