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USC Schedule ■ Swimming vs. Clemson, 3 p.m. ■ Volleyball at Tennessee, 7 p.m. USC seeks redeeming victory by Michael Haney Staff Writer i The Gamecocks face one of their toughest chal lenges yet this season as they prepare to play the No. 4 Florida Gators at 12:40 p.m. Saturday. Carolina will try to break its 19-game losing streak against one of college football’s perennial pow ers. The Gatois enter the game with the chance to win the Eastern division of the Southeastern Con ference and make their sixth trip to the SEC cham pionship game since the format began in 1992. USC will go into the game seeking to spoil the Gators’ chances of completing this task, judging from coach Lou Holtz’s claim that "we can play with Florida.” Quarterbacks Florida’s Doug Johnson is one of the SEC’s best rated passers, averaging 262.2 yards per game pass ing and is the No. 23-ranked passer in the country. Johnson has completed 170 of 299 passes for 2,360 yards and 19 touchdowns. Florida coach Steve Spurri er has said backup QB Jesse Palmer will see action because of Johnson’s lack of production the past few weeks. Palmer is 14 of 23 for 158 yards, with one TD and one interception. Phil Petty will return to the QB position Satur day after missing the past five games with a slightly tom medial cruciate ligament. Petty will allow the Gamecocks to open up their offensive scheme a lit tle more because of his experience. The sopho more was 35 of 83 with seven interceptions and one touchdown before the injury against Mississippi State. Advantage to Florida. Running Backs Florida’s running attack is made up of Earnest Graham, Bo Carroll and Robert Gillespie. Each back has rushed for more than 460 yards and at least 5.7 yards per carry this year. GIIlespieTirdke Tils hand against Geoigia and could be out a few more weeks. Fullback Rob Roberts suffered an ankle injuiy at Van derbilt last week, and his status is uncertain for this week’s game. The unit is averaging 166.3 yards per game on the ground. Carolina will start sophomore Antione Nesmith at fullback and move 6-foot-1-inch, 260-pound fresh man Andrew Pinnock to tailback. Derek Watson is out with an ankle injury sustained in the team’s scrim mage Nov. 4. Carolina’s rushing attack is averaging 90.6 yards per game. Advantage to Florida. Wide Receivers The Gators’ receiving corps is one of the best in the country. This unit, which doesn’t include any seniors, has more overall ability than a year ago. However, it has struggled with inconsistent play, es pecially in recent games. Juniors Darrell Jackson and Travis Taylor headline the unit Jackson has six straight 100-yard games. Taylor is rated as one of the top three receivers in the country by The Sporting News. He missed three games in mid-season because of a se vere ankle injury and hasn’t recovered his early-sea son form since returning three weeks ago. USC probably has one of the most talented, but least utilized receiving groups in the SEC. Because of the offensive struggles, the unit has seen little action this season. Jermale Kelly leads the team in receptions with 22 for 335 yards and one touchdown. Advantage to Florida. Offensive Line The offensive line is where everything begins, and Florida is talented. The Gators have three se niors, one sophomore and a true freshman on the line. Seniors Cheston Blackshear and Cooper Carlisle are all-SEC candidates. The unit has allowed the fewest quarterback sacks in the league, with 15. Carolina’s offensive line has sported six differ ent lineups this year because of injuries. This unit is one of the youngest and most inexperienced in the league and has struggled to be consistent. The line has shown some signs of improvement over the past two games, however. Advantage to Florida. Gamecocks seepages Sean Rayford photo editor USC defenders swarm over Florida wide receiver John Capel during last year's 33-14 Gator win in Gainesville. The 0-9 Gamecocks take on the 8-1 Gators on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The televised matchup will begin at 12:40 p.m. Gamecock basketball gets two solid starts Basketball Roundup The Gamecock The USC women’s basketball team opened the 1999-2000 campaign Tuesday night with a 73-63 win over the Russian National team at the Car olina Coliseum. Sophomore Jocelyn Penn poured in 25 points on 10-bf-10 shooting from the floor. Also, Penn was five-of-five at the foul line while grabbing eight rebounds. Fellow sophomores Shaunzinski Gort man and Shannon Segres also had good perfor mances, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Lady Gamecocks trailed 17-13 with 10:14 to play in the first half before they tied the game at 21. Carolina pulled ahead to end the first half up, 34-27. A run by Russia seven minutes into the second half put Carolina down by three, 5047. But after a USC timeout, the Lady Gamecocks went on a run of their own, charging to a 63-53 lead with 4:21 to play. A strong Carolina defensive effort held Russia off down the stretch to win. Head coach Susan Wblvius, now in her third year at the helm, was impressed with her team’s olav. "Today was the best South Carolina basketball game I have seen since I’ve been here," Walvius said. beat a very good Russian team tonight.” Carolina forced 33 turnovers, converting them into 33 points. Overall, the Lady Gamecocks shot 45.6 percent from the floor. Sean Rayford photo editor Freshman Petra Ujhelyi, left, battles Russia’s Elena Grishina for a board. The Lady Gamecocks won Tuesday, 73-63. Carolina is back in action Tuesday for its final exhibition game against Australia. Tip-off is 7 p.m., and admission is free. by Kevin McCrarey Staff Writer In their final tuneup before the regular season, the Gamecocks had an opportunity to practice winning a close game as they defeated Alytus Lithuania 63-58 Wednesday at Frank McGuire Arena. The Lithuanian team gave the Gamecocks all they could handle, as the game’s outcome wasn’t decided un til the final seconds of the second half. With the score tied at 58 with less than a minute to play, Damien Kinloch went up strong following a missed Aaron Lucas layup, drawing a foul as he made the buck et. He added the following free throw, putting the Game cocks up 61-58 with 18.8 seconds left. The Lithuania-Alytus team, known as "Alita,” at tempted to tie the game on the next possession, but Tomas Rimkus’ 3-point attempt was off the mark. At that point, Lucas nailed down the victory as he made two free throws with 2.2 seconds left to close the game. "The best part of the game was that it was a close game," coach Eddie Fogler said. "The biggest part is to show our players how to win a close game." The Gamecocks never got into sync offensively as the Alita ran a 3-2 zone defense, keeping the Carolina offense at bay. The stingy Alita defense forced the Game cocks to commit 19 turnovers, following a 22-turnover performance against Court Authority. "In fairness to our team, my substitutions kept us Basketball see face 9 Sean Rayford photo editor Guard Aaron Lucas tries for two points Wednesday night against Lithuania-Alytus. USC won, 63-58. The Slate National Football Conference East Division W L Home Road Div Str Washington 5 3 3-2 2-1 2-2 L-l Dallas 4 4 3-0 1-4 3-1 L-2 New York Giants 4 3 2-1 2-2 2-2 W-2 Arizona 2 6 1-3 1-3 2-2 L-3 Philadelphia 2 7 1-3 1-4 1-3 L-3 Central Division Detroit 6 2 4-1 2-1 2-0 W-3 Green Bay 4 4 3-2 1-2 2-2 L-2 Minnesota 5 4 3-2 2-2 1-3 W-2 Tampa Bay 4 4 2-1 2-3 0-2 W-2 Chicago 4 5 2-2 2-3 2-0 W-l West Division St. Louis 6 2 4-0 2-2 3-0 L-2 Carolina 3 5 2-2 1-3 1-2 W-l San Francisco 3 5 2-2 1-3 1-2 L-4 Atlanta 2 7 1-4 1-3 2-2 L-l New Orleans 1 7 1-4 0-3 1-2 L-7 American Football Conference East Division W L Home Road Div Str Miami 7 1 2-1 4-0 2-1 W-4 Indianapolis 6 2 5-1 1-1 2-2 W-4 New England 6 2 3-1 3-1 2-1 W-2 Buffalo 6 3 3-1 3-2 2-1 W-2 New York Jets 2 6 1-4 1-2 0-3 W-l Central Division Jacksonville 7 1 2-1 5-0 3-1 W-5 Tennessee 6 2 4-0 2-1 4-0 W-3 Pittsburgh 5 3 1-2 4-1 3-1 W-3 Baltimore 3 5 1-3 2-2 2-2 W-l Cincinnati 1 8 0-4 1-4 1-3 L-4 Cleveland 1 8 0-4 1-4 0-6 L-l West Division Seattle 6 2 3-1 3-1 1-1 W-3 Kansas City 5 3 4-0 1-3 2-1 L-l San Diego 4 4 2-3 2-1 2-2 L-2 Oakland 4 4 2-2 2-2 0-2 L-l Denver 3 6 1-3 2-3 2-1 W-l Thursday’s Top News • Red Sox skipper Jimy Williams named A.L Manager of the Year • Utah forward Hanno Mottola could miss up to six weeks with injured knee • UNC coach Bill Guthridge reinstates guards Ed Cota and Terence Newby to the team after their arrests • Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley ejected after second-half scuffle in 89-88 Lakers win • Padres trade pitcher Andy Ashby to Phillies ) Todd Money Money in the Bank The NBA begins, but who cares? nother NBA season has begun. Has anyone noticed? A few mornings ago, while eating my usual bowl of rocks and peb bles and enjoying the 8 a.m. “Sports Center,” I noticed these really small words and numbers running across the bottom of my TV screen. “OK, what are those?” I asked my half-asleep roommate. “I don’t know, you’re the sports idiot, man,” he graciously replied. After sitting there a few minutes, it became apparent that these minute characters were scores. And not just any scores, but NBA scores. Pro bas ketball scores. “My God,” I said. “They’re back.” They really are. Those trash-talk ing, no-shooting, no-skills cretins of the sports world are in action for an other 456-game season. Boy, it does the heart good to see such a faulty in stitution continue year alter year. I don’t hat&the NBA. I don’t even dislike it. Why should anyone hate an entire group as a whole, anyway, when there are so many good reasons to de spise the individuals in that group? Actually, it hasn’t been that many years since pro basketball was re spectable. I started following the NBA around 1987, a time now considered near the top of the league’s history in terms of superstars and quality of play. Magic was still magic, before the ADS scare. Larry Bird looked as if he could play forever. Michael Jordan was coming into his own for an improving Bulls team. Julius Erving and Moses Malone were still around. Basketball seemed right. Gradually, though, those stars dis appeared. The “Bad Boys” of Detroit won two straight championships, and then Jordan began his nearly decade long reign. Scoring and shooting dropped dramatically. The court seemed to shrink about six feet on all sides. Teen-agers were drafted out of col lege, then high school to play the game. Salaries rose, but not like in other sports. Suddenly, rookies were paid the highest salaries on their teams, while reserves weren’t paid much more than the league minimum. Defense was allowed to run ram pant. And what the sports media picked up on this, the league’s rules commit tee sot toBether and tried desDeratelv to come up with new rules to create more fouls to, uh, create more defense. And they did. Great solution, huh? Now, all you have in the NM is defense. And fouls, fevery game is a slow-motion exercise in how to give fouls. And no, defense in basketball is n’t near as much fun to watch as de fense in football or great pitching in baseball. Not when you have to stop play every 30 seconds because John Stockton gets pummeled to the ground by an elbow. The playoffs are even worse. Six ty- and 70-point games? How many timeouts do teams have in the last five minutes of a game? Six? Seven? Plus extra timeouts for television? And peo ple wonder why postseason TV ratings continue to drop. Of course, there’s also that matter of fewer obvious superstars. Who are the best players in the league? Allen Iverson? Kobe Bryant? Shaq? Who knows? Today’s stars might be excit ing, but they’re also moody, erratic and conceited as a whole. Remember the lockout last year, when athletes actu ally negotiated to keep marijuana from being illegal? It s gotten to where the only thing that saves the NEA every year is the postseason. Ever notice how in the playoffs, players actually play as if they care who wins, as opposed to the reg ular season? Doesn’t that seem weird? So let’s make it easy. Play an ex hibition schedule, just to wake players up after their six-month layoff. Get the fans interested. Then, skip the sea son. Yes, the whole thing. Draw play off teams out of a hat. Play as many rounds as possible. More of a good thing (playoffs) is better. Less of a bad thing (the season) is better, too. Just a suggestion. I still like this game.