Coastal Carolina head men’s basketball coach Cliff Ellis notched his 800th career D1 victory last Tuesday with a 64-61 triumph over Valparaiso at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the Bahamas. After returning to the states, CCU gets another milestone opportunity on Wednesday, as the USC men’s basketball team travels to Conway for the first time ever.
Coastal enters play at 2-2 on the season with wins over Ferrum College and Valpo. Meantime, the Gamecocks are riding a four-game winning streak to up their overall record to 5-1. It will be the fifth ever meeting between the two instate programs with all of the previous contests taking place in Columbia. USC holds a 3-1 advantage in the series, winning the most recent outings 80-78 in 2017 and then 85-78 the following season. The Chanticleers lone victory in the series was an 88-74 decision in Columbia back in 1993.
On Tuesday, Ellis and redshirt sophomore forward Essam Mostafa met with the media to preview the matchup and talk about its importance to college basketball in the state.
