GAME NOTES: The South Carolina Gamecocks have not tasted defeat since before the Thanksgiving holiday, and they will look to keep it going on Wednesday night when they host the Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams at Colonial Life Arena.

South Carolina has been playing some of its best basketball under third-year head coach Frank Martin. The Gamecocks have won seven in a row, most recently upending No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday, 64-60. The win was the program's first over a top-10 opponent since the 2009-10 season.

Florida is coming off back-to-back narrow losses to Florida State (65-63) and Connecticut (59-53) last week. Saturday's loss to UConn marked the third time this season the Gators coughed up a double-digit lead in the second half. Head coach Billy Donovan has already rolled out nine different starting lineups and, given last week's results, figures to continue experimenting here.

UF has won six straight against the Gamecocks and leads the all-time series, 42-22. When these teams met last March, Gators guard Michael Frazier went 11- of-17 from beyond the arc to set the SEC record for most 3-pointers in a game.

Florida went eight minutes without a field goal against UConn, and the Huskies capitalized with a decisive 17-2 run. It was a game the Gators hardly deserved to win, considering they shot an abysmal 8-of-20 (.400) at the foul line, including 1-of-6 in the final four minutes. Frazier, last season's long-range assassin against the Gamecocks, leads the Gators in scoring (14.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) but managed only eight points on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor versus UConn. It was the first time this season he failed to reach double figures in the scoring column.

In fact, Frazier's 3-point shooting (.375) has dipped considerably from his average of .453 over his first two seasons. With Frazier scuffling, forward Dorian Finney-Smith (13.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) was the only Florida player to reach double figures in Saturday's loss with 19 points. A 41.3-percent shooter from the perimeter this season, Finney-Smith has scored in double figures six straight games since recovering from two hand fractures in the season opener.

South Carolina comes into this game with a +15.5 scoring margin in non- conference play. The Gamecocks have impressed defensively, as their .338 field-goal defense ranks fourth nationally and second in the SEC only to top- ranked Kentucky. They held ninth-ranked Iowa State to 35.1-percent shooting from the field (and 1-of-18 from the perimeter), which was 15 points below the Hawkeyes' average entering the game.

The Gamecocks managed to win that game on a neutral court against a ranked opponent despite committing 20 turnovers. All three starting guards reached double figures, led by Duane Notice (13.3 ppg) with 15 points. Sindarius Thornwell (11.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Tyrone Johnson scored 13 apiece and also combined for 15 rebounds. Thornwell scored six of his points in the final two minutes and also came up with a key steal to help seal the victory.

While coach Donovan's Gators have been struggling, South Carolina is now receiving votes in the AP poll for the first time since January 2009 and in the Coaches poll for the first time since March 2006. Playing on their homecourt for this matchup, the time is ripe for the Gamecocks to end their six-game losing streak to the Gators.