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> 1A METHTK ATHLETICS Mens' Basketball @ Vanderbilt Tonight, 7:30 p.m. EST Memorial Gymnasium Radio: AM-560 Womens' Basketball vs. Kentucky Tonight 7:00 p.m. ^ Frank McGuire Arena Radio: AM-1400 USC tow tonight i LARRY WILLIAMS Senior Writer Tonight the men's basketbal team will be looking to continue doinj what it couldn't do last season: Wii on the road. The Gamecocks (13-5,7-0 SEC travel to Nashville to take on th< ^ Vanderbilt Commodores (11-7,3-4' hoping to win their their fourth straight game away from home (8:3r p.m. EST). Last year, playing away fron Frank McGuire Arena produce< miserable results, as USC posted j miserable 3-10 road record. What a difference a year makes This season, USC been perfect awa; from home, having posted wins a Mississippi State, Florida an< ^ Alabama. Having eight straight wins am a lofty perch above the SEC Eas gave USC a No. 25 ranking in th< Associated Press poll Monday, it first ranking since 1991. For sophomQre guard BJ McKie who won SEC Player of the Wee] honors Monday, it's the memory o last year's road disasters that ha ^ produced this year's successes. % "It made us concentrate a littl i 1 a f j ? ittuuci miu olcxy i^jic lutuacu, ithu\i said. "It's very hard to stay focused especially when you're away fror home. The odds are against you, bu that's part of playing on the road. McKie, who is second in SE< scoring with 18.1 points per-gamt said the team gained wisdom fror ^ those losses as well. [m % The Gamecock is vided in Colut Shopping and Business ^ Best Shopping I Best Departmer Rpct Grrvorv Best Discount S Best Pharmacy Best Convenienc Best ABC/Packr % Best Men's Sho ? Best Ladies' Shi Best Shoe Store Best Lingerie SI Best Alternative ? Best Sporting G - Best Camping/ Best Bookstore Best University ?? Best Formalwer ? Best Formalwer ?-? Best Ploce for I ? Best Jewelry Si Best Bicycle Sh Best Camera i>i Best Pet Shop ^ Best Dry Clear* SPORTS ON FRIDAY: Saturday si Kels to 'M? to take on "I feel we've gotten much more mature as a team," McKie said. "We could have folded through those three * games we won on the road. 1 Concentrating on the little things, making every possession key, that ^ really helped us win on the road." To win against Vanderbilt, USC coach Eddie Fogler said the Gamecocks will have to bring a strong ^ defense to Nashville, which they didn't in last year's 107-97 loss. 1 "The game there was one of the * better shootouts that I've been 1 involved in," Fogler said. "In terms of offensive production, both teams ' were terrific offensively. But they y scored more points than we did, and t neither team could guard the other." * McKie said another shootout is the last thing USC wants tonight. i "Everything went in for us, but t everything went in for Vanderbilt, e too," McKie said. "Vanderbilt got the s best end of that deal, because they shot a little bit better than we did. !> "Nobody could stop one another, k so hoDefullv we can ero in [tonightl f with a little more defense. Last year, s it was everything except defense." The Gamecocks and Commodores e know each other well, having met e two times last year in addition to I, the Nashville affair, n In the teams' first meeting, USC t came from behind to take an 87-83 overtime win in Columbia. 2 In the NTT, Vandy and USC faced 5, each other for yet a third time. The n Gamecocks did it with defense, winning 80-70 to advance in the W~] m ' asking the University of So nbia. Take a moment to fill Wall Best Place to' it Store Best Car Wast ore Best Music Str tore Best Musical 5 and Drug Store Best Banking :e Store Best Auto Supi rge Store Best Car Deale p Best Art Suppt op Best Cellular P i Best Florist Kop Best Print Sho Clothing Shop Best Tanning! oods Store Best Hair Salo Outdoor Shop Best Nail Salo Best Barber SI Bookstore Best Compute ir Shop-Men Best Fitness C irShopiodies Best Travel Aj /isionwear Best Apartmei [ore Entertainment op hop Best Bowling Best Comedy Bfs Best Movie Tl is "Take a Girl to the Game" D; isic City' i Vandy tournament. This year, the Commodores have been struggling to replace guard Frank Seckar, on whom they depended so much in seasons past. Filling the void left by Seckar have been forwards Pax Whitehead C\A. 9 nncA anrl Rillv DpSnaltm (19 4 ppg), and guard Drew Maddux (12.5 PPg)"They have been able to overcome Seckar's three point shooting with Whitehead's ability to shoot the ball better," Fogler said. "They're still very good, they're tough," Fogler emphasized. "Their frontrcourt players have gotten better. Dispaltro is now much more of a factor offensively for them." After having been voted No. 25 Monday, USC is looking to continue its climb up the polls. But, as sophomore forward William Gallman says, the ranking isn't something the team has lost sleep over. "It's great and all, but I think it's greater for the fans," Gallman said. "Itfs something for them to get excited about." "I don't think that's a particularly big deal," the Irmo native McKie said. "It matters how you finish later on in the season. "Our main goal is to keep playing the best we can, try not to listen to all the hype. That attitude has gotten us this far. We're just going to try to keep it up," McKie said. "If you're not No. 1 at the end of the season, what does it actually mean?" "Cht (5amecock uth Carolina to cast its voU out this official ballot and PRIZES GALORE!!! Return Ballot to: Carolina's Best ,| c/o Student Media r Russell House Columbia, SC 29208 Wash Clothes : Best Radio i BestMornii )re Best Radio upply Store Best Club [ Services Best Happy jly i Best Video rship Best Dance / Best Blues hone Service Best Jazz ( Best R&B ( n . A I. p besr Airerm jalon Best Counti n Food and Drink n bp Best Place r Store Best Place enter Best Place lency Best Place it Complex Best Place Best Place Best Pizza Center Best Pizza Club Best Wing: leater Best Place ay at Frank McGuire Arena. IvJ McKie hono r^pBW~a Wm* \ k * ' Bli M -v m ROBERT WALTON Hie Gamecock Gamecocks cn BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor It took a while, but the Gamecocks are back where they started at the beginning of the year?the Top 25. In the latest AP Top 25 released Monday evening, USC was No. 25. It is the Gamecock's first national ranking in six years. "It makes us feel good to get national recognition," BJ McKie said. ? for the best products a) you 7/ automatically be 1 Station Be lg Radio Show Be DJ Be |J Be Hour Be Rental ? Be Club Be Club ? Be Inh Rfi .IVU ? !lub Be ]tive Music Club Be [y Music Club Be Be Be for Seafood Be for Italian Br for Chinese B< for Mexican w , Religion for Greek for Japanese Bi (eat-in) Bi (delivery) Bi s for Homestyle Cooking What is it? Read and find out. re? Lk5 ? red as SEC PL BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor Sophomore BJ McKie was named SEC Player of the Week Monday by the conference office. McKie, who averaged 22 points and nine rebounds for the week, helped lead the Gamecocks to victories over Alabama and Ole Miss last week. McKie scored 16 of his gamehigh 18 points in the second half of the Gamecocks' 62-60 road victory over the Crimson Tide Wednesday. "It's a great accomplishment and it's something I didn't do last year," McKie said. As much as the award is an individual honor, McKie said he owes credit to others. "It makes me feel good but I have to thank my teammates for that because without them, none of the recognitions or individual accolades would be possible," McKie said. In Saturday's game, the Columbia native once again led all scorers as he poured in 26 points ick AP Top 25 Many of the pre-season basketball magazines had Carolina in the Top 20, but after a 5-5 start, USC was about as far away as you can get from receiving votes. Two weeks ago, they received only two votes, and last week, they got 75 votes. With this week's 129 points, they cracked the Top 25. "We're on a winning streak right now and look to keep it going," McKie said. "Right now we feel we can win anytime we take the court" rn m nd services proregistered for i S S .T" "5C v.i?. , st Subs st Deli Shop _ st Hot Dog I 01 st Fries I St BBQ j Name st Brand of Beer st Soft Drink | Address st Bar ^ ^ I phone # st Place for Coffee [ Only one st Ploce for Dessert | discarded. ist Ice Cream . apply on al ist Frozen Yogurt I nstudeni ist Place for Steak J Faculty ist Place for Breakfast I E Staff >st Place for Late Night Food ' | /at ?st Delivery I Arm i II m est House of Worship J 1 i est Youth Activities I \\ est Religious Bookstore . * THEY SAID IT "It makes you feel real good to know that everyone is behind you and everyone's excited about South Carolina and what we're doing right now." BJ McKie on students camping out for tickets ayer of Week and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. "BJ was terrific last week," USC coach Eddie Fogler said. "He was very good at Alabama, and against Ole Miss he was absolutely sensational." McKie is the leading active scorer in the SEC, averaging 18.1 points per game. Kentucky's Ron Mercer was averaging 18.6 points per game before blowing out his knee. The Irmo High School graduate is also averaging 2.2 3-pointers a game (4th in SEC), a 40.8 percent 3-point goal percentage (7th in SEC) and 46.9 percent from the field (5th in SEC). He also leads the league in SEC games only with 19.4 points per contest. McKie is the second Gamecock player in three weeks to be named SEC Player of the Week. Larry Davis, who before McKie was named was the only Gamecocks ever to be given the honor, was named Player r?f fhp WpoIt fhr tViP wppV nf .Tan 13 AP Top 25 1.Kansas 14. Villanova 2. Wake Forest 15. Stanford 3. Kentucky 16. Michigan 4. Utah 17. Indiana 5. Maryland 18. Colorado 6. Minnesota 19. N. Carolina . 7. Clemson 20. Xavier 8. Cincinnati 21. Tulsa 9. Louisville 22. Texas Tech 10. Arizona 23. Texas 12. Duke 24. Marquette 13. New Mexico 25. S. Carolina ~ ML TRAVEL SERVICE PM)(lfSAN|| >Y \ /C) Book Store fficial Entry Form "j I I l I I I I I I ballot per person allowed. . or reproduced ballots will be Where applicable, restrictions 1 prizes awarded. t I