Looking to extend its perfect start, South Carolina hosts road-weary Radford on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C.
While the Highlanders (2-3) play their fourth game away from home in eight days, the Gamecocks (3-0) wrap up a four-game homestand prior to facing Butler on Friday to start the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
Last time out, the Gamecocks’ best defensive effort to date fueled an 81-61 win over Presbyterian.
“Some really good things came out of that game,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said. “Some of our young guys got out there and had a little more of an opportunity to perform. We’re trying to develop this whole picture, and playing those young guys was one little part of it. I was happy with those things.”
Paris’ new-look group is still trying to jell as Myles Stute and Jordan Butler are the only returning contributors from last year — though leading scorer Meechie Johnson (18.7 ppg) is no stranger to Paris and the Gamecocks.
Johnson played his first two collegiate seasons at Ohio State before transferring for two years at South Carolina. The Ohio native went back to the Buckeyes last season, but took a redshirt year after playing just 10 games. That enabled him to return to the Gamecocks for his sixth and final season.
Freshman Eli Ellis chips in 13.3 points per game off the bench while Mike Sharavjamts averages 11.3 points. Sharavjamts is on his fourth team in four years, following stops at Dayton, San Francisco and Utah.
Radford played in the River Division of the Greenbrier Tip-Off over the weekend, falling 92-59 against Wright State and 87-82 to Cleveland State.
Radford’s difficult nonconference stretch, which began with a 15-point loss at North Carolina last Tuesday and concludes with a trip to SMU next Monday, looks to serve the Highlanders well before Big South conference play.
“This is a part of a stretch in our nonconference schedule where we play six games in 14 days,” first-year Radford head coach John Chu said. “Three of those games are against high-major teams, so we came into November knowing the challenges. Obviously, you put together a nonconference schedule that best prepares you for conference play. We certainly feel like we’ve accomplished that.”
Dennis Parker Jr. averages 16.4 points and Del Jones provides 15.4 points per game for the Highlanders, but their iffy 3-point shooting is emblematic of a team that hits just 26.3% from beyond the 3-point arc.
–Field Level Media
