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MCKIE'S MARCH TRAC Senior BJ McKie became the USC's 5 only Carolina men's basketball meter 1 player to score more than (60-mei 2,000 points in his collegiate Williarr career. Patrick With his 15 points on Saturday each se a era i net Choroid Mrldp now thfir rp I has 2,002 career points. | weeker Monday, February 8, 1999 Carolii mBFLmr , jj^ w fl * lM#i Carolina's Nate Janowicz gets thrown out al Charleston. The Gamecocks went on to win tl uamecoc by Jared Kelowitz 15:00 mar Senior Writer out to an 1 some solid After Saturday evening's 80-56 rassing de shellacking of the USC men's has- A. Laj ketball team at the hands of Georgia, eight 3-poi] Gamecock fans have to be thinking the UGA1 two things. After a First, "How Twut that USC eques- the Game trian team?" The second thought on the sho would reiterate that Nike commer- dig them cial with Spike Lee saying, "St. Ig- deficit (51natius eighth-grade girls basketball initely on ? it's fantastic!" The 6-1 The loss to the Bulldogs effectively Layne goe destroys USC's chances of being in a as ^ abbr postseason tournament, barring a ney On th miracle SEC Tournament perfor- the role of mance at season's end. USC's hop Georgia didn't waste any time get- death row ting ahead of the Gamecocks. By the have had 1 Inconsistency a problem for by Michael Strickland as th Senior Writer ^ ten '1 Inconsistent. a teai If there's one word to describe this year" s sa^ USC basketball team, that's it. Only a week ^00IE ago, the Gamecocks were on a mini-winning streak of two games. With Modest, yes, but a winning streak ^ ^ j nonetheless. R However, after the permanent suspension of forward LeRon Williams and a drub- on bing at the hands of the Auburn Tigers, easy USC hoped to rebound on the road Satur- 69-3E day against Georgia. It didn't happen. trimi On Saturday, nine Top 25 teams fell to In fa< defeat, officially making it Upset Weekend g}e p, for this year. Apparently, Athens, Ga., got its immunization snot early. Why else could USC not muster any ? semblance of a challenge to the Bulldogs? That could be attributed to Carolina's no- sc^0( show of team defense in the first half. read Bulldog freshman D. A. Layne's eyes lit 1 up when he discovered no one from USC's V 2-3 zone defense could get a hand in his schec face, and he nailed 6-of-8 3-pointers in the goes < first half alone. The USC zone was slow team and stationary much of the night. jng f Georgia also utilized their team speed to out-move the Gamecocks for open shots. a^j The Bulldogs shot 62.5 percent (10-of- g . 16) from long range in the first half. USC ^ coach Eddie Fogler had preached to his 1 players in practice not to allow Layne any e flat-footed looks at the basket, but the point U1 guard was adorned with open attempts. Tubt Layne's running mate Jumaine Jones have was equally responsible for the 25-point halftime deficit. Jones tallied 12 points and on 3-of-6 shooting. From that point on, the stru? Stegewan Coliseum crowd watched in agony to ke K AND FIELD itanislov Olijars (60lurdles), Me'Lisa Barber ter dash), Ellikisha ison (60 hurdles) and Tvarkunas (pole vault) school records in spective events this aa swee I^By* I, J^E^ife^H^L^^l^^B| Mpt- JBL JbBJ &> fttH |p|llf": ^P||| Hfc - < * ? - ^*?* ^iii?%J flMffi < ,- - m^^P ^|SH|hP > all' " J??" ~ 1 __1 __ :.. . Sean Rayford Photo Editor : home plate in Sunday's victory over the College of le game 10-1, sweeping the weekend series. Irn rtl%/\i- /l/\i ivs anui uu k, the T)awgs had jumped of his career Saturday, or ma: 1-4 lead on the strength of had just never been that open 3-point shooting and a ha- in his life. Whatever it was,' fense. Five minutes later, was 8-of-ll from long rang me hit the third of his poured in 26 points. Even befoi titers in the game to stretch urday, Layne had been ha\ ead to 16, 24-8. solid season, averaging just o nother 10 minutes of agony, . points, two rebounds and two t cocks found themselves per game, but nothing like thi rt end of a 26-9 run, leav- "D. A. Layne is going to be i with a 25-point halftime player in a few years. Even rigl 26) and Georgia most def- he is veiy good," USC's BJ McKi their minds. "He was making shots from a bot- 2 freshman sensation the court tonight. A few times, 1 s by the initials often used open, but even with a man in hi eviation for district attor- he was still nailing his threes is night, Layne would play At halftime, USC's perfon judge, though, as he sent looked like it would surpass the >es of a winning season to cuse game for ugliness, but the < '. The point guard might cocks made a dramatic improv the shooting performance in the second half, capped by remains Bill t N 1 J. Carolina date e two teams played out the string of ribly lopsided game. by Todd Mom rhey shot the ball very well, and we're Sports Copy Editoi m that has a hard time scoring," Fogler rp^e ^ That combination of traits spelled day" coujd ^ con l for the Gamecock faithfuls, as USC jor changes, if on led to 7-15 overall and 2-8 in SEC play. Rep. j0hn Gre the win, Georgia climbed to 14-9, 5- sponsored a bill ii eague play. would require tin ut you can't say the Gamecocks quit game be played 1 e floor, something that would've been on a home-and-hi to do. With 11:34 to play, USC trailed I think it wi '). In the final 10 minutes, though, USC sa|d- ^come fr?n med the margin to as low as 73-53. xt.woald rt, use won the second half by a sinoxnt' ... . . T Carolina and Ck hat fact is a testament to senior BJ Thursday of the ie, who became the first USC player her, was discontii ly 2,000 points in a career. McKie, the home-and-home< il's all-time free-throw leader as well, The two scho< led the milestone with 2:18 left at the the last Saturda ine. nearly every yeai /^hat now for the Gamecocks? The Altman, a fori lule shows no mercy as the SEC beat think holding the mi. On Wednesday, an angry Arkansas would hurt the t comes to Frank McGuire Arena sting- ox,t e reP' rom a four-point loss at Vanderbilt. be hej^tenef' J rback sharpshooter Pat Bradley prob- ketable leyel not noticed the performance of Layne on ditionally played rday- afternoon. ext weekend, USC heads to Kentucky. "Carolina-Cle Wildcats, 62-58 losers at Alabama on anywhere, anytii rday, will have had a full week of coach a showcase for tl: >y Smith without a game. Smith will According to I the Cats pouncing in Rupp Arena. letic director for We've just got to keep our heads up possibility is one stay positive," McKie said. "We're a . ^y?u re l??k ogling basketball team, but we've got nitude ... then y< , i in some kind of nat: ep playing hard. L (Bamecock . port! The Gamecock ps Coi by David Cloninger I Senior Writer i The South Carolina baseball team j got its season off to a good start by sweeping the College of Charleston in a twogame series over the weekend. Saturday's Opening Day matchup pitted sophomore Ail-American pitcher Kip Bouknight against Charleston's sea- 1 soned veteran, Scott Oliver. Both pitchers got into early trouble, with Carolina taking a 1-0 lead in the third inning before the Cougars' All-Southern Conference outfielder, Monte Lee, smashed a home run to centerfield to tie the score. Carolina senior catcher Tim Angiolini regained the lead for USC in the fourth inning with a two-run homer, but the Cougars came clawing back on Lee's second homer of the day, tying the score 3-3 in the sixth. That would be the end for Bouknight, who left the game with a no-decision. Angiolini again came up big in the seventh, hitting a two-run double off Charleston reliever Brian Hocker which scored outfielder Adam Poe and second baseman Jay Lambert. With sophomore Scott Barber pitching two scoreless innings of relief, USC seemed to have the lead for good. Later, however, Carolina senior closer Jason Pomar gave up Lee's third homer, making the score 5-4. This would become the final, as Pomar bore down and coaxed the next batter to pop up, giving USC its first victory. Sunday's second matchup was nothing like the day before, as the Gamecocks totally dominated the Cougars and won 10-1. Once again, Angiolini was the hero of the day, collecting seven RBFs on five hits. Sophomore All-American w-1 ? m ? wn by B yhe he 4 run leading up to the three-minut before mark of the game. That run was be Layne gun by Uamien Kinloch, who at th e and 13:14 mark made a nice turn re Sat- around jumper in the paint. Ten mil ring a utes later, Kinloch ended the ran wit ver 12 a pretty layup off the break. Th issists freshman ultimately had one of hi s. most impressive outputs of the sea i great son, scoring 11 points and grabbin it now six boards. e said. Another USC freshman who helf 11 over ing with the scoring duties was guar le was Jamel Bradley, who ended the firs is face, half 2-of-2 from downtown and fir ished the game with six points. Ai nance ter looking like the only Gamecoc ! Syra- who could shoot a basketball in th Game- first half, some might have wondere ement why he was taken out. an 18iroposed to of USC-Clen }y But 3 r state Rept _ and said football tradition of "Big Thurs- nong * ling back, albeit with a few ma- ' e congressman has his way. . Walke iham Altman, R-Charleston, has inS ma l the South Carolina House that departme it the annual Carolina-Clemson "The [! rhanksgiving Day every season, to do," he 1 * -i. L * * OAAA me oasis, starring in zuuu. "We'vi 11 have a good result," Altman , .1 a the Big Thursday background , at for the state and get us some we nee n " On po iig Thursday" game, where South students, jmson met in Columbia on the faction th week of the State Fair in Octo- others wc nued after 1959 and moved to a Altma affair on a Saturday. wou]dcol ols have played one another on y of the season for both teams change r since then. watch or ner cheerleader at USC, doesn't Howe ! big game on a national holiday heard has radition of families coming to- The c( Litation of the intrastate rivalry. decisk 3 said, interest in the game could ^jg ltn tne contest nsing to a marunlike the two NFL games tra- ^ P on television on Thanksgiving d?> Tharj mson's going to fill any stadium, "I'm sure me," he said. "Why not make it When yoi le state? have to n Cerry Tharp, USC assistant ath media and public relations, the worth looking into. . nive ing to move a game of that mag- letics Din )u would need to be assured of ty Chairn ional exposure," he said. for comm WOMEN'S B-E The Lady Gamecock ^ Sunday to No. 21 Al 87-73- LJSC takes on 7 p.m. Thursday at F McGuire Arena. Care *9 yet to win an SEC a season. jgars Ditcher Peter Bauer got his first win, ,4. *i ,-4. i : u.*4.? >Liuuug uui nve aiiu aiiuwmg live inu* through six shutout innings. Bauer also improved to eight straight career wins vithout a loss. The Cougars were "oughed up for seven runs in the first six innings and never recovered. Carolina started strong, scoring a -un in the first inning off an Angiolini iouble and setting the day's tone for Charleston pitcher Adam Spires. The transfer from Clemson allowed eight fits and five runs in only four innings. USC scored in each of the first four nnings of the game, as the first our hitjers of the lineup collected nine Ucs be;weenthem. The combination of junior transfer Brian Roberts, Angiolini, jufior Nate Janowicz, and freshman first laseman Trey Dyson worked well for fie Gamecocks. USC continued to score through the ater innings, getting two runs in each if the sixth and seventh innings before winding up with a single run in the iighth. The Gamecocks had no homers, iut showed depth by still racking up 10 *uns without the long ball. Several new Gamecock players were n action this weekend, as Head Coach [lay Tanner inserted much of his bench X) find a perfect combination. Besides Roberts, the games this weekend began fie careers of outfielders Marcus McBeth, Shane Nelson and Matt Walker, nfielders Demetric Smith and Marcos Rios, and pitchers Randy Hadden and Lee Gronkiewicz. The Gamecocks are 2-0 with the vicxiries. Their next game is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Sarge Frye Field against Davidson. ulldogs e "Jamel Bradley is going to be great player," USC coach Eddie Foglf e said. "He is already a good shoote he just needs to learn to take bett* i- care of the ball and get stronger, ? h well." e One player who might have bee s overlooked amid all the active fresl i- man play Saturday was McKie. 1 g the first half, he was a dismal 3-of from the field, with almost as mar )- turnovers as points. But before far a at otegeman uouseum oegan jrngnr it the keys to their John Deere tractoi i- chanting, "It's all over," McKie ga\ f- USC fans yet another thrill this sei k son. He scored nine points in the se e ond half, surpassing the 13 he neei d ed for the game, to become Carolina first- ever 2,000-point scorer. change ison game >ey Walker, executive director of the iblican Party, called the bill a " bad idea' the chances of its passing are "slim tc ;r warned against state government tryTiaoro fVio affairs nf pnllppifltp flthlptirs nts. 3.C.] General Assembly has better things said. e got some high-quality, intelligent peo[USC] athletics department now, and o leave them alone," Walker added, tential reaction to the bill by fans anc Tharp said, "I'm sure there would be ? at would be very much in favor of it, and >uld take some adjustments to it." in said he thinks any criticism of the bil ne from those concerned about having 3 their holiday schedules to be able tc attend the game. ;ver, he said, "All the reaction I'vt 3 been very positive." \r?rrrnccrnor-? itrQC ClA omQnf lnQ\nnr ;iigi cooiiicui vycio uuuiniwii/ uwui, ltaviiif m up to those in charge at the two schools C and Clemson] athletics directors wil at their heads together and decide wha' said. ) echoed Altman's statements, saying it's a situation we'd have to [look into] a make a big adjustment like that, yoi lake sure ... it's in the best interests o rsity and everyone involved." rsity President John Palms, USC Ath ector Mike McGee and Democratic Par lanDick Harpootlian couldn't be reachec ent. 3ALL NATE SAYS... s lost Nate says clans of long ago abama, that wanted to get rid of Kentucky their unwanted people rank without killing them would )lina has burn their houses down ? antest this hence the expression "to get fired." Page 7 Holtz puts USC on track me craz^' ku* Holtz would have won ers. riyiP^J^B I know some of you might think that's a a bit of a stretch, but I 1 truly beheve inspiring William Folks players and motivatCommon Folklore *n8 them to succeed ? are the most vital things a head coach can bring to his program. A coach must get his team to compete at or above its talent level in order to win football games, and in Carolina's case last year, the latter was clearly what the "Shamecocks" needed. Yet, as Carolina's nightmarish 1998 season wore on, that kind of effort never materialized. It got to where you could write Brad Scott's postgame quotes with close to 90-percent accuracy before the game even ended. "Our young men were obviously not prepared, not ready to play out there tonight," he would say. "We lacked the motivation, intensity and effort you need to win ballgames." Going over those postgame interviews after the season, it was difficult to determine which game each tape was from, so routine and pre" dictable the responses were. Well, if there's one thing I've learned from the press conferences Hoitz has held since taking the USC job two months ago, it's this: They're anything but routine and predictable. And last Wednesday, USC football fans saw yet another (and significantly more pleasant) departure from the Scott era: a solid class of incoming freshmen. In all fairness, Scott wasn't that bad of a recruiter, when you sit down and think about it. He just couldn't do anything with his talented players once he got them here. After reportedly telling former USC quarterback Anthony Wright he would mold him into "the next Charlie Ward," Scott proceeded to mold him into the next Charlie Brown. | Looking at Holtz's first class, the fact that | any of the state's top high school players came to Columbia is indeed a miracle. While it would've been nice if Carolina had signed Kevin Breedlove a (Georgia), Albert Haynesworth (Tennessee), Bri?r an Mance (Clemson) or Durell Robinson (Georr, gia), Holtz did remarkably well, considering the jr situation. is The first obstacles for him were clearly those three horrific words, "one-and-10." I hate to say in it, but juSt the sound of "1-10" sends a chill up 1- and down my spine every time I think about it. ft One-and-10.1 tell you, we fans should count all -8 of our new recruits as manna from heaven, ly The second major drawback was, well, is Scott himself. Any time your former head coach ig moves immediately to an in-state rival, it's gore ing to do at least some damage to your in-state fe recruiting efforts. Greg Walker, William Henry a- and Mance were among those in-state players c- Scott lured to Tigertown with him. I have to won a- der, though, what tieisman trophy winner did t's Scott say he would mold them into? Linus or Peppermint Patty? Other drawbacks Holtz experienced were his relative unfamiliarity with South Carolina's high school talent and the length of time he took to assemble his coaching staff. While perfectly understandable, both of those factors set USC back in its recruiting process this season, something even Holtz has admitted. Two months is just not enough time to carefully select your coaching staff and hit the recruiting trail with all cylinders firing. ; Up against considerable impediments, Holtz ' really had just one thing going for him: His name , just happens to be Lou Holtz. The benefits of his legendary reputation were most apparent in USC's out-of-state recruiting success. Tailback Ryan Brewer (Ohio's Mr. Football), fullback An' drew Pinnock (Connecticut's Mr. Football) and 6-6, 290-pound New Jersey offensive lineman^ > Shane Hall all became interested in South Carolina some time during the first week of December. Hmmm. I Another important signee is standout defen- * sive lineman Cleveland Pinckney, a Sumter native who committed to USC coming out of high l school but had to spend two years in junior coli lege for academic reasons. Pinckney (6-2, 285) 1 and C.J. Frye (the 6-3, 285-pound son of USC's track and field coach, Curtis Frye) should prol vide USC with some much-needed size on the der fensive line. Clearly, though, Palmetto running back Derek Watson was the coup of USC's "Class of 2002."A big (6-1, 205), bruising back with excellent - speed, footwork and vision, Watson (South Carolina's Mr. Football) flip-flopped between Car-i t olina and Tennessee before settling on the Gamecocks at the 11th hour. Last year's Shrine Bowl MVP scored 88 touchdowns in his high school ca-^ reer and amassed a state-record 6,766 yards. "Derek Watson sent a message to people, Hey,' T 1J 1 1 .1 _ _ __ V i couiu nave gone anywnere in ine country, ana , I chose to come to South Carolina,m Holtz said. While USC's newest class probably won'? i make more than one or two "Top 25" lists, it will f probably go down in history as the most talented ever to sign with a 1-10 program. Thank you, Lou Holtz. For the first time in four years, Gamecock football is finally moving in the right direction I again.