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r Inside: - Schedule Point guard Chuck Eidson con- a Men s basketball at Ole Miss, 8 p.m. ■ Women’s tennis vs. Furman, 5:30 p.m. f/ntves to make his case for B Women’s basketball at Georgia, Thu. SEC Freshman of the Year ■ Track & Field at Va. Tech Invite, Fri. ■ Women’s tennis vs. Arkansas, Fri. • r USC looking for must-have win by David Cloninger Sports Editor The USC men’s basketball team will try to break their eight-game los ing streak and pick up their second win of the millennium tonight as they trav el to Tad Smith Coliseum to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. ^ Ole Miss (14-7,2-6 SEC) is one of the mystery teams of the SEC, achiev ing a 12-1 record before conference play, but then losing five straight. How ever, the Rebels have won two of their last three SEC matches, including an overtime victory over No. 4 Auburn. Like the Gamecocks, the Rebels hang close with many opponents, but can’t hold on for the win. Ole Miss lost by four to Florida, two to Missis sippi State, five to Kentucky and by seven to Arkansas. Guards The Rebels are led by guards Lataryl Williams and Jason Flanigan, who are averaging 9.6 and 8.2 points Pper game, respectively. Head coach Rod Barnes lets Williams and Flanigan null Hmihlp Hntv at fhp nnint hut neither is a clearly defined leader on the floor. Although Flanigan is one of only two starters returning from last year’s Rebel team that went 20-13 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Rebels prefer to let their forwards handle the offense. South Carolina will start freshman Chuck Eidson, who averages 10 points per game and leads the SEC in steals with 69. Eidson has proven himself a reliable starter, taking over point guard duties for regular starter Aaron Lucas, who is out for at least a week with a fractured hand. The team’s leading scor er, senior Herbert Lee Davis, brings his high-flying acrobatics and 10.4 ^ points per game to the Gamecocks, who are searching for their first win since beating Arkansas in Fayetteville on Jan. 8. A win would tie both teams for fifth place in their respec tive divisions. Forwards Ole Miss has two of the most dan gerous forces in the SEC at their dis posal in senior All-Conference con tender Marcus Hicks and junior Rahim Lockhart. Hicks leads the team in scor ing with 15.6 points per game, which is also good for fifth place on the con ference scoring sheet and third place in field-goal percentage. Lockhart is right behind Hicks with 12.5 points per game and is second in the confer ence in rebounding, a category in which South Carolina is last in the league. USC’s only forward with signifi cant experience is sophomore Damien Kinloch, who averages 4.4 points per game. The other players at the posi tion, juniors Antonio Grant and David Ross, split time as guards. The Game cocks have three 6-foot-7 freshmen in Ivan Howell, Calvin Clemmons and Travis Kraft. Kraft is the only one who sees extensive playing time, and that’s only an average of 10.4 minutes per game. Although Kraft, Grant and Ross are reliable 3-point shooters, the Game cocks will have to find another solu tion to shut down Hicks and Lockhart. Centers The Rebels have 6-foot-11 fresh man John Gunn at center, but he has averaged only 3.3 points and 1.9 re bounds per game. Instead of having one man in the paint, Barnes deploys a pla toon of forwards and big men to cir culate throughout the lane. Gunn is helped by sophomore Darrian Brown, but the pair are usually overmatched. USC has two 6-foot-11 towers in the middle in freshmen lony Hatch ings and Marius Petravicius. Petravi cius will start, but both will see equal time. Although the pair average 8.6 and 6.8 points per game, respec tively, they have both gotten into ear ly foul trouble in the Gamecocks’ last few games. If head coach Eddie Fogler is forced to bench his big men, it could be a long night for USC. Benches The Rebels feature a bench full of freshmen who all contribute i bit to the Ole Miss game plan. Look for forwards Josh Hayes and Richard Kirklin to help out Barnes in the ear lier part of the game, but the two can hardly be counted on as point-scorers. USC will have Jamel Bradley play ing productive minutes at guard. Bradley has a dangerous 3-point shot and has kept the Gamecocks in close matchups with clutch shooting. Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports Gamecock guard Antonio Grant scores against Georgia Jan. 22 while freshman Chuck Eidson looks on. USC will play Ole Miss at 8 p.m. tonight in Oxford and try to break an eight-game losing streak. -—-n ~ ... i ii mu in 11—■ USC Men's Basketball Team Statistics (through Feb. 9) J PLAYER 14 Herbert Lee Davis 31 Chuck Eidson 12 Marius Petravicius 35 Antonio Grant 05 Aaron Lucas 50 Tony Kitchings 10 Jamel Bradley 33 Damien Kinloch 15 Travis Kraft 00 David Ross 32 Calvin Clemmons 04 Ivan Howell 20 Jo Jo Cadray 24 Brian Scott TOTAL 3-POINTERS GP-GS MIN-AVG FG-FGA PCT FG-FGA PCT FT-FTA 22-22 598-27.2 89-207 .430 25-70 .357 26-51 22-12 638-29.0 85-186 .457 21-53 .396 29-54 22-22 451-20.5 63-129 .488 0-0 .000 57-91 21- 14 528-25.1 59-133 .444 22-67 .328 21-45 19-19 612-32.2 48-137 .350 16-62 .258 26-35 22-0 450-20.5 66-135 .489 0-0 .000 17-37 21- 0 186-8.9 31-69 .449 28-61 .459 10-11 22- 19 462-21.0 44-91 .484 04) .000 16-33 15-0 161-10.7 19-55 .345 16-49 .327 7-8 22- 2 219-10.0 26-66 .394 17-48 .354 1-4 9-0 54-6.0 10-21 .476 04) .000 6-13 94) 51-5.7 4-15 .267 3-6 .500 5-6 5-0 12-2.4 1-2 .500 0-1 .000 3-4 24) 3-1.5 0-3 .000 0-1 .000 04) REBOUNDS PCT OFF-DEF TOT-AVG PF-FO A TO BLK ST PTS - AVG .510 25-43 68-3.1 29-0 32 28 13 16 229-10.4 .537 13-54 67-3.0 47-0 85 63 13 69 220-10.0 .626 48-52 100-1.5 70-5 4 40 15 11 183-8.3 .467 49-60 109-5.2 23-0 25 30 3 26 161-7.7 .743 11-44 55-2.9 40-0 92 57 5 24 138-7.3 .459 37-54 91-4.1 39-2 14 31 24 23 149-6.8 .909 1-12 13-0.6 5-0 11 4 0 4 100-4.8 .485 46-56 102-4.6 55-3 11 32 10 12 104-4.7 .875 7-8 15-1.0 11-0 6 11 0 2 61-4.1 .250 11-17 28-1.3 32-0 16 16 1 7 70-3.2 .462 8-10 18-2.0 5-0 0 4 0 0 26-2.9 .833 2-4 6-0.7 7-0 8 8 0 2 16-1.8 .750 0-1 1-0.2 0-0 2 1 0 2 5-1.0 .000 0-0 0-0.0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0-0.0 riuuavic auuicw South Carolina (9-13,1-8 SEC) 14 Herbert Lee Davis G 31 Chuck Eidson G 12 Marius Petravicius C 33 Damien Kinloch F 35 Antonio Grant F Mississippi (14-7,2-6 SEC) 25 Lataiyl Williams G 22 Jason Flanigan G > 31 John Gunn C 24 Marcus Hicks F 44 Rahim Lockhart F Location: Tad Smith Coliseum, Oxford, Miss. Trammell, Barbers collect more honors Sports Roundup Gamecock Sports Track and Field Junior Terrence Trammell continued to have a banner season last weekend at the Millrose Games in New York City and at the New Balance Invite in Boston. The Decatur, Ga„ native was runner up at the Millrose in the 60m hurdles at a sea son-best 7.60. In that same event, Trammell defeated Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson, also a USC volun teer coach and Trammell’s training partner. It was the first time in his career that Trammell bested his good friend Johnson. At the New Balance meet in Boston, Tram mell proved again why he is one of the most promis ing young talents in the nation. Competing #ostly against professional athletes with corpo rate sponsors, Trammell became the first athlete in the meet’s history to win both the 60m dash and the 60m hurdles. In the process of capturing the 60m dash, Tram mell defeated gold medalist Jon Drummond and former NCAA c'iampionrBryan Howard. Trammell continues to lead the NCAA in both the 60m hurdles and 60m dash. Sophomore twin sensations Miki and Me’Lisa Barber are currently ranked Nos. 1 and 2 re spectively in the 200m. Miki is No. 1 in the 200m and 400m and de stroyed her personal and school record in the 400m at the New Balance meet. Miki’s time of 52.84 was good enough to earn second pice be hind 1999 NCAA champion Suzanne Reid and bettered her top NCAA time by . 1 seconds. Me’Lisa shattered her own school record in the 60m dash at the Millrose Games and took over the top spot in the NCAA. Her time of 7.28 is the best in the NCAA and earned Barber fifth place in a field of professionals. The Barbers act as the “book-ends” of the NCAA’s fastest 4x400m relay team with team mates Demetria Washington and Tacita Bass also carrying the baton. Patrick and Lori Tvarkunas, the brother-sis ter pole vaulting tandem from Glenwood, Md., each won their event at the 5-way meet in Blacks burg Saturday afternoon. Patrick, a senior captain, jumped a season best 17’3 1/2 to capture the vault on the men’s side. Lori, a freshman, jumped a per sonal best 11 ’6 1/4 to take it on the women’s side. USC will be back in action this weekend at the Virginia Tech Invite in Blacksburg. The Game cocks will return to the campus for the second time in a week, having competed in the Five way Meet in Blacksburg dn Feb. 5. Women’s tennis Two of the state’s top tennis teams will meet again Wednesday as the No. 13 South Car olina Gamecocks host the Furman Lady Pal adins at the USC Indoor Tennis Center. South Carolina enters the regional battle at 2 0 after wins last Saturday over College of Charleston (8-0) and Davidson (8-0). Furman, meanwhile, is 2-1 and also is on a two-match win streak. Following a season-opening loss to Wiscon sin, the Lady Paladins have recorded victories over Illinois State (5-2) and Ball State (6-1). These two Southeast Region foes met twice last year with the Gamecocks, with USC pre vailing both times. USC won the regular-season battle 9-0 and then knocked off Furman in the first round of the NCAA Championships, 5-1. With the match set for 5:30, fans are en couraged to stop by on their way home from work to enjoy some of the nation’s top women’s ten nis talent in action. The first 50 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative schedule mug. Baseball After sweeping their opening series against Charleston Southern over the weekend, the Game cock baseball squad rose four spots to No. 21 in the latest Baseball America poll released Mon day. Other local teams in the poll include No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Florida State, No. 8 LSU, No. 5 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Auburn, No. 19 Clemson No. 20 North Carolina, No. 24 Florida and No 25 Wake Forest. USC next plays Old Dominion at 1:30 p.m Friday at Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. ' • 4* Here's an example of real free speech S. H A W N Singleton Wanted: Dead - 1 “I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. ’’—Voltaire “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, it’s time to bring out the one man who always....” Yo, announcer girl, why don’t you open up a can of “Shut the Hell Up” . and bounce on a trampoline. There’s been a lot said recently in the world of sports about how cer tain people should or should not have the right to say certain phrases. With out further ado, here’s my take on the situation. Satire, anyone? Now that I’ve put my servant in her rightful place, it is now time for me to explain why I am so pissed this week. I have been writing for this news paper for almost four years, and the good people in the sports department have the audacity to send me to cov er women’s basketball. Listen, cretins. I am the 3-1-6.1 am a descendant of African kings. I am the No. 1 sportswriter for this lame paper. Without me, this paper would be used to line somebody’s cat box. Covering women’s sports is be neath a man like myself. It’s boring, mundane and just plain horrible to watch. If I were the head of the NCAA, I would take Title IX, roll it up into a nice ball and shove it down Billie Jean King’s throat. Women should not be playing sports. They should not be covering them or even watching them, Women are only good for two things, and since most of the women I know can’t cook, that narrows it down to one. As for the white Southern subur banites laughing in the audience, I sug gest you shut the hell up, too. You guys are nothing more than a bunch of losers that fight wars over penis envy. Oh yeah, didn’t you guys lose one? Get over it, you ignorant redneck pieces of white trash. The war ended 135 years ago, so pack up your Con federate flags and white sheets and throw that contaminated trunk into the Congaree. What the f@%k are you broth ers laughing at? It seems like 75 per cent of all major sports are made up of you thugs, and you’re disgracing my race. If it weren’t for sports, your ass es would be behind bars doing a life sentence for some dumb stuff. Most of you don’t even know the alpha bet, but you can tell me every word to a Master P song. Coaches have to get clearance from the local gang boss just to get you to play for their college team, and that’s if you have a high enough SAT score. Did you know that you get 300 points just for putting your name on the test? Oh, hell no, girlfriend, don’t even go there with your cheering. What the hell have you as my Nubian sisters done for sports? Other than posing as bas ketball players and serving as a sperm bank for most male basketball players, you haven’t done much. People called my high school grad uating class in 1993 the “Baby Class” because it seemed that every black girl seemed to have had at least one kid by commencement. Have you ever heard of protection? Singleton see mge B2