Report: Gamecocks to face perennial Big East contender next season

The South Carolina men's basketball team reportedly will participate in next season's Hall of Fame Tip Off Tournament in Connecticut.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweeted Friday morning that the Gamecocks will play Providence at Mohegan Sun Arena. No game date has been announced, but the 2017 version of this tournament was held Nov. 18-19. Rothstein reported George Washington-Michigan as the event's other game.

The Hall of Fame Tip Off is associated with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and formerly was hosted in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Providence has made five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Big East's Friars went 21-14 last season and lost to Texas A&M in the Big Dance's first round.

Other known nonconference opponents on USC's 2018-19 schedule include Clemson (home), Virginia (home), Coastal Carolina (home) and Wyoming (away).

A return trip to UMass, originally scheduled for 2018, reportedly has been pushed back a season.

This story was originally published May 4, 2018 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Report: Gamecocks to face perennial Big East contender next season."