The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 27, 1997, Page 7, Image 7

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!) School fig d to descrflx Two lines from the Carolina fight song have summed up the fortunes of the Carolina basketball team so far this season. | "Who gives a care when the going ^ is tough, and when it is rough. Thats when the Cocks get going." The Carolina basketball team, picked by many of the experts to finish in the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament, won two of three at the Maui Invitational and lost a heartbreaker to North Carolina at The Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge. Then the going got real tough. The Gamecocks started off a seven\j game homestand with a not very convincing win over basketball "powerhouse" Wofford. Then when the students went home for the winter break it appeared that the basketball team should have just left too. The Gamecocks were thrashed af Vmma Hv a fnn matter hnw hard it is to say it) very good Clemson Tiger basketball team. The Tigers' defense and patient | offense stopped the Gamecocks and got a little revenge for the football loss in late November. That loss really was not that bad because Clemson had defeated Kentucky and were ranked in the Top 15 in the country, but then the team lost to UNC-Asheville two nights later. First of all, a school like South fe Carolina should never lose to a team that has a hyphen in its name, and second of all just days before Kentucky had beaten the Asheville team by 50 points. ^ Don't miss your c This year, The Gamecock has 14th's issue of The Gamecocl Simply i Happy } B, To: From: _ fe Your specu will be plat Write a special ? lovt nytelp / [M# . Take $5 and your on the 4th Floo I stairs; to i For mc t. lit song rea e basketball So you say that the going could not get any rougher for the Gamecocks? Well it did. They then lost to Charleston Southern, who up until a few years ago was known as Baptist College. Then the Gamecocks faced instate rival Furman from Greenville, and beat them handily. The team that showed up for that game is the same team that everyone was longing to see. They shot well, played great defense, and, most importantly, played with intensity. Although that win was great, no one could be convinced that the Gamecocks had turned around the season as they were preparing to face SEC West rival Auburn. The Tigers brought to town former Clemson head coach Cliff Ellis and with him a chance to start out 1-0 in the conference. Then they thrashed Tennessee at home. Enough said. Then the first road test of the year came at Mississippi State on a day when the Gamecocks moved from pretender to contender and many USC students moved from home back to school. The win over Mississippi State had Gamecock fans excited that the basketball team was back to their winning ways of last year and matched their road win total from last year. That win surprised no one more than me, because after the two losses early in the season to Asheville and Charleston Southern, I said the Gamecocks, who were awful on the road, would not win two road games all year long. Well they came back from a 16 point deficit at Florida and won that 1y Valei :hance to wish your loved one a Hapj a very special offer for you. Buy a Val c for $5 and get a FREE four-line clas Step 1: r pick one of our two Valentine " Happy Valenti T) g 10: /^> From: Your special two will be placed he i/alentine s Day *#2I two-line message :ed here. Step 2: message to that special person. T1 typed and placed into your card Hfr yPg i4* olhn94f 04 eo4y 04 (&vinft )/9u l&ney bunny! Step 3; message to Student Media Adver r of Russell House (accessible by t process your card order and your cl ire information, call 77 SPO Ily written I fiOQfiAtl L ^VIIOUAI second road game, and in honor of that accomplishment my head is now shaven. Then, the Gamecocks defeated the No. 21 Georgia Bulldogs and held on to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And of course on Saturday the Gamecocks man-handled the Ole Miss Rebels for their eighth-straight victory and seventh-straight in the SEC. Ole Miss is not a pushover and how the Gamecocks won by 23 points is beyond my comprehension. The Rebels' list of victims include Kentucky and Arkansas in ? ayettevme. The Gamecocks definitely are playing their better ball right now than any Gamecock basketball team has played since the McGuire days. So when the going got tough the Cocks got going. They have rebounded from a tough start to lead the SEC East at 7-0 and are the only undefeated team in the SEC. But Kentucky still awaits for two contests. A rejuvenated Arkansas team will roll into Frank McGuire Arena as will a Florida team that will look to put some revenge on the Gamecocks. Don't forget road games at Georgia and Vanderbilt. With a schedule like that ahead in the conference, plus a nonconference road game at nationalpowerhouse Cincinatti on Feb. 15, the going may get tough again for the Gamecocks. But can they, as the'fight song says, get it going again when the tough times hit? Only time will tell. itine! py Valentine's Day! [entine card to be printed in Feb. sified ad. Here's how it works... 'Cards." ne's Day -line message re. I le message will be You get the point. tising Department he elevators and iassified ad. 7-1184 Wht (Bamecock r LIhJUHH KTS Yellow Jackets DWAYNE MCLEMORE Staff Writer The ACC supported its reputation as the nation's best basketball conference Saturday with a onepoint game in front of a sold-out crowd. N.C. State won the rights to the ACC cellar when it lost to Georgia Tech 54-53 at McDonald's Center in Atlanta. The Wolfpack's Danny Strong missed a 20-foot jumper as time expired. "I got a good look, but it just didn't go down," said Strong, a native of Great Falls, S.C. The Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek chose not to use the team's final timeout after C.C. Harrison stole the ball with less than 10 seconds left. "Our policy is we're going to get it up the floor and attack rather than call a timeout," Sendek said. "NJ P Q + a+o frockmqr? Fliimnn X 1 V> UtUl/V 11 V011111UU JL/ lAiiivii Thornton was the game's standout, setting career highs with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Sendek, meanwhile, remains winless in the ACC, while the team has lost 14 straight conference games over the past two seasons. Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins was happy with the victory, although he said the team is obviously struggling at the guard position. "Our backcourt is the area we need to improve on, Cremmins said. "I played point guard at South Carolina, and I know the importance of the point guard position" The Yellow Jackets (8-9, 2-5) were led by junior Matt Harpring's 16 points. Harpring was held to just four points in the first half. "It's a heck of an aspiration to try and shut him down the whole game," Sendek said of Harpring. Georgia Tech plays at Clemson Thursday at 9 pm, while N.C. State travels to Charlottesville Tuesday to face Virginia at 9 p.m. Hawks win 19th straight at home The Atlanta Hawks won their 19th straight home game Saturday 95-90 over the Boston Celtics behind ;>$$$$$$$$< lS TCO T 4 00~\f\f 4 If $ Open til midnite a ^ Open late Thurs. m p Fri. Sat. _ i ? ! ?< I Melrose ] 4> pizza w/ t Two For jj menu (excludii 5 Million I ? millionth Pizzc ^ dollars.(from 4 S Thurdavs r _ 11 _. _ ffj. i a? jree au nigru u ? 6-pack ofRolli P pizza. I Freaky 1 ? Juke Box.} Ovc P every beer pw & & I jj ATTENT] ? available ind all sorts of C & Atlanta Haw 24 points from Mookie Blaylock. Nov. 2 was the last time the Hawks lost a game at the Omni, when the team fell to the Detroit Pistons. The team's record for consecutive home*wins is 22, set in the 1990-91 season. Dikembe Mutombo was also big for Atlanta, adding 16 points and 15 rebounds after sitting out most of the first half because of foul trouble. "We came out a little mentally drained playing a team that had nothing to lose and was very loose," Atlanta coach Lenny Wilkins said of the Celtics. The Hawks improved to 28-12 on the season and are in third place in the Central Division. Boston's 9-30 record puts them in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics haven't won at the Omni since March 26, 1993, a string of eight losses. Boston coach M.L. Carr gave ... i J-Vv. JH Ljk M fj (b^8m/ k ^ |P Gary Saunders dunks the ball in T< p *p ip %p *p *p *p *p <p < f?% O-.n ing Rock and get ajre Friday: Freak out zr 79 records) Free si rchasedfrom 4pm-8pi HAPPif HOUR Daily from 4pm - 7pm $1 slices w/one topping All day long! 930 Rolling Rock . $1 Schlitz [ON.- A FULL IV I l o i i n maing oaiaas, rz rap! Custom to purch P vp vp vP ?lP vP vp vp vp ^ ks victorious credit to his team's effort. "You cant fault these kids, they're playing very hard," Carr said. "They're giving Celtics type energy right now." Boston was led by rookie Antoine Walker's 22 points and nine rebounds. "We wanted to be the ones to stop their streak," Walker said "We just couldn't come through and that seems to be the story for us all year." , Christian Laettner added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, while Steve Smith scored 18. Todd Day had 17 points and four steals for the Celtics. Wilkins was honored before the game for being the only person named to both the NBA Top 50 and Top 10 coaches of all time. Both teams hit the road Tuesday, with the Hawks playing at the LA Clippers, and Boston battling at the N.Y. Knicks. s next to Joyful Alterm Mondays: $10for nnks during Melrose Tuesday: 2 for ig drinks) dollar Wedne i order of the day gets ipm till 8pm 25$ slice 1 Ladies Night ong! Buy a bottle of B to our Groovy ice of pizza with ^ it. ?P $ $ 1 $ $ $ 1ENU is now f ista, Subs, and ^ ers must be 21 or older . rnse Alcohol BO MORAN Special to The Gamecock wh's 54-58 win over N.C. State. !p*p*p?!p\p*PipCp Cp v o%- $ X%* $ /1 $ I s ?% $ u J $ $ afive $ an 18" 4 topping ^ P/ace $ $ T 1 anything on $ :SdaV: The $ ? one million dj s) 5 $ j: Ladies admitted $ oone '5 Farm or <j? 'e 18" 2 topping ^ *P $