In his sixth season at the helm, Frank Martin has South Carolina (12-6, 3-3 SEC) trending in the right direction, sitting at 47th in the latest RPI standing. Last season, the Gamecocks advanced to their first Final Four and won a program-record 26 games.
However, USC lost three starters from that team, including SEC Player of the Year Sindarius Thornwell. The two returners are junior forward Chris Silva and sophomore forward Maik Kotsar.
South Carolina struggled early on in the season, dropping contests against Clemson, Illinois State and Temple during non-conference play. The Gamecocks then lost three of their first four to begin their SEC slate but enter Saturday's matchup riding a two-game winning streak.
After going on the road to get a win at Georgia, South Carolina returned home and erased a 14-point, second-half deficit to upset No. 18 Kentucky, 76-68. Silva matched a career-high with 27 points and grabbed eight boards to pace USC.
On the season, Silva leads the Gamecocks in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg). In SEC play, he's improved his scoring to 19.3 ppg.
Graduate transfer guard Frank Booker is the team's other double-digit scorer, tallying 11.3 ppg to go along with 3.3 rpg, 1.2 spg and 1.1 apg in 26 minutes of action a game.