The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 28, 1998, Page 8, Image 8
Hot-hai
asst. sports editor HATHAH BROWN
GREENVILLE ? What in the world
is a Paladin?
According to Furman University, a
Paladin is a knight on a horse. But as
far as USC basketball was concerned,
the Paladins were just another team in
a long series of six games m 10 days,
who would provide a little breather and
a little fun for the Gamecocks before
USC heads back into the grind of the
SEC and Top 25 play.
With a hot hand from behind the 3point
arc in the first half and strong defense,
the No. 14 Gamecocks (14-3,5-2
SEC) jumped out to a sizable lead and
in the end knocked the knights off their
horses 79-52 in Furman's brand-new
Timmons Arena.
"In the first half, we were very sharp
and shot the ball well," USC head coach
Eddie Fogler said. "[We] got off to a good
start. In the first 20 minutes, we played
really good basketball...Herbert Lee
Davis is starting to come around offensively
for us. That's a really big bonus
Williorno
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4
asst. sports editor HATHAH BROWN
Coming off a strong defensive ef
fort against Furman, the Gamecocks
look to duplicate that performance
tonight when the Florida Gators come
to Frank McGuire Arena for a 7:3C
p.m. tip-off.
Defense will be of the utmost im
portance, especially from 3-point range
for Carolina as the Gators rank second
in the nation in 3-point shooting.
"They are a very good shooting
team," Bj Mckie said. "We're going tc
have to stay out on the perimeter and
guard their guards. Their guards are
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to our team. We played everybody. The
first half was very well done; [inj the
second we went through the motions of
a team up by 20 points."
The first half saw Carolina catch on
fire from 3-point range as USC made
nine of 16 3-point attempts. In a five
and a half minute span, Carolina scored
17 points with 15 coming from five
threes.
The threes were flowing like rain
from the finger tips of Herbert Lee
Davis. Davis, en route to tying a personal
best of 13 points, shot 75 percent
from 3-point land. Averaging nine
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experienced somewhat of a turnaround
in his season, after averaging only four
ppg in the first nine games of the year.
"I guess it was just one of those days
that I was shooting the ball well with
confidence," Davis said. UI had my career-high
13 last year [against Furman].
Maybe I need to play Furman a little
more.
Tm starting to feel a lot more comfortable.
My shot is starting to fall. Be,
Gamecocl
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WILLIAMS Also back
from a year
ago is forward Greg Stolt who aver,
aged a team-high 13.9 ppg.
One player who is not returning
for the Gators is LeRon Williams.
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ihg a shooter and your shot is not falling
is like the end of the world. But when
it's starting to fall and the confidence
is coming back, your mechanics start
to fit in and the rim is like a big
ocean, like Michael Jordan said. It feels
good. I'm confident," he said.
With a total of six players making
threes, Davis wasn't the sole long-range
bomber. But no player contributed more
greatly to the win than Bj Mckie. Finishing
with a team-high 16 points, Mckie
made 60 percent of his 3-pointers,
shot 50 percent from the field and led
the team in steals with three.
"It feels good [when everyone's shots
go in]," Mckie said. "It takes a lot of
pressure off of you... We just had some
open looks, and we concentrated on our
shots, and they fell tonight. It makes it
a whole lot easier when they're falling."
The shots were also falling for LeRon
Williams who finished with 14 points.
With his second consecutive game of 14
points, Williams looks to have started
down the path toward consistency, especially
when you consider that the last
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Williams transferred from UF a year
ago to join Carolina's squad.
Once in Columbia, Williams has
seen his numbers dramatically improve
from his days in Gainesville
where he averaged 6.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg
in two seasons.
Currently, Williams is averaging
10.1 ppg and 4.2 rpg. In the last three
contests, this Bradenton, Fla., native
has averaged 17.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg.
This is going to be a war," Williams
said. They will come up here hyped
up...Basically, Fm just going to go out
and play. They have a good shooting
team. [Florida coach Billy] Donovan
has that up-and-down tempo so we'll
have to go out and play a good game.
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ove story. Get mushy, be funny,
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it to 50 words or less. And
jet to include your name,
>hone number and school,
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tly enrolled at Auburn University, University of Kan:
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s scorch
two games were on the road where 1
Williams has been less effective.
"I'm going out and playing my 1
game," Williams said. "Hopefully, it will
continue and be more consistent."
Consistency has not been a problem |
for Carolina's defense. The Gamecocks 1
have held 16 of their 17 opponents to 1
45.8 percent or lower from the field. The
trend continued for USC as Furman 1
was able to muster only a 36.1 field goal 1
percentage. Also, Carolina did not al- 1
low any FU player to score in double 1
digits. The Paladins had trouble just |
getting into scoring position with USC I
racking up nine steals, 20 turnovers |
and five blocks against FU. More impressively,
Carolina closed the door on |
FlFs 3-point shot. Furman attempted 1
13 3-pointers and made zero.
With Monday's win against Fur- ?|
man, the Gamecocks ride a four game f|
winning streak into Wednesday's con- g
test against Florida.
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Td be lying if I said that I wouldn't
[be playing with some extra passion]...I
just want to go and play. If he [Donovan]
wants to make it a statement
game, then so be it. Fm not trying to
make that. I could care or less about
the negative terms [that were exchanged
between Donovan and me].
Fm just going to go play for the University
of South Carolina," he said.
In this series, USC is down 16-13
to the Gators. In the Coliseum, the
margin is closer, but Florida still leads
9-8. For those of you who didn't get
tickets, the game will not be televised,
but you can buy tickets from the ath- ' letic
department. ei
sli
dd,
ay th1
again
! story Contest
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sas, University of Arizona, University of South Carolina, A
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jderal, state and local laws and regulations apply. For names
v
Paladins 79-52
'
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BRYAN JOHNSTON The Gamecock
nior Metvin Watson scored five points and racked up a team-high
ght assists in Monday's contest against Furman. Watson's defensive
ills will be tested tonight against the sharpshootlng Gators.
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and you could win
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free Wey, Gamecocks! Send your entry now to:
le Sprint Long Distance Love Story Contest
ion. c/o The Gamecock
jprint 1400 Greene Street ^
Treat Russell House, 3rd floor
t Columbia, 3C zyzux
Entries must be received by midnight, February 5.
WHIYIMITT S-L
A r<tJ? SOUTH
^ Sprint. QVROUNA
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irizona State University, University of Colorado, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University,
1998. Only one entry per student will be accepted. Not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, mutiitivity
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rint and cannot be returned. No transfer of prizes permitted Winners will be required to sign a lia- ^
of winners, after 2/14/98, send a separate self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Long Distance Love