South Carolina announces home-and-home with Big East team

South Carolina has scheduled a home-and-home with one of the more recognizable teams in college basketball.

The Gamecocks announced a series with Georgetown with the first game Dec. 5 at Colonial Life with the return trip to Georgetown in December of 2022.

"I can't express how excited I am to be able to play a game against a program like Georgetown, led by one of the great people in the game of basketball in Patrick Ewing," Frank Martin said in a statement.

"Georgetown is coming off of a great run last year, an NCAA Tournament run, and it's one of the historic programs that in my lifetime, we all grew up respecting. Coach Thompson, even though he's not with us in person anymore, the spirit and the strength that he built the Georgetown program on, we all still look to his example in college basketball as we try to grow the game and grow the people who play the game. Being able to start this series is going to be great for our program, for basketball and for everyone who will be a part of it."

Georgetown is coming off a 13-13 season that saw the Hoyas make the NCAA Tournament after going on a run and winning the Big East tournament. The Hoyas ultimately lost 96-73 to Colorado in the opening round of the tournament.

This would be just the fourth time these teams have met, with the latest in 2005, a 69-66 South Carolina win. The Gamecocks are 0-3 in the three previous meetings, playing in back to back years (2001 and 2002) and in 1978 before that.

The Hoyas are now coached by Georgetown great Patrick Ewing, who's entering his fifth year there with a 62-59 record.

South Carolina already has games publicly released by college basketball insider Jon Rothstein against Rider, and will also play in a multi-team event (MTE) that includes Western Kentucky, Minnesota and a team to be announced. Clemson will also be on the non-conference schedule in mid-December.