The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 01, 2000, Page B1, Image 11
Inside: Schedule
i
The upcoming SEC Women’s Basketball u Men s baskatbal1 at Florida, 7 p.m.
■ Men’s tannis at Wake Forest, Thu.
Tournament diagrammed, Clonmger die- a Sof(bal| at Nor1h Car0|ina (DH)i Thu r
cusses the negative traits of Vince Carter ■ Women’s basketball vs. Vanderbilt (at
SEC Tournament), Thu.
Wednesday, Mabch i, 2000 “Wit ©HneCOCll '
/
Gamecocks try to conquer Gators
-
by Shannon Rooke
Sports Editor
As if the USC men’s basketball team isn’t stressed
enough.
^ ' It’s already bad that Carolina has to win its next two
games in order to have any shot in the looming postseason tour
naments.
Now, they’ll have to face up against even more top-ranked
teams that stand in their way of what would be one of the biggest
season comebacks in SEC history.
But it’s not like they haven’t had practice.
Having played eight ranked opponents since December and
losing 11 ti(Ties to teams ranked in the top 20 at game time,
not winning against a nationally-ranked squad has become a con
tinuous theme for the Gamecocks.
This time, they’ll travel to Florida to take on the No. 8
Gators for a 7 p.m. game in the cursed O’Dome.
South Carolina currently trails the series between the two
teams 19-16 (12-7 since joining the SEC) and is coming off a
three-game losing streak to the Gators. The Gamecocks now
hold a 21-25 record in the Sunshine State, and a win against
Florida would continue the momentum that South Carolina
W seems to have found late in the season.
When Gamecock faithfuls look back at the struggling sea
son owned by Carolina, one thing they can say is at least they
lose with honor. Eleven of USC’s 15 losses have been by eight
points or less, including seven which have been decided by five
points or less. Against ranked teams, USC lost by a combined
15 points to No. 4 Syracuse, No. 7 Auburn, No. 9 Michigan
State and No. 20 Vanderbilt.
Although Carolina is coming off a huge SEC win over Geor
gia, Florida’s qualifications are nothing to shrug at.
The Gators lead the SEC in such categories as scoring of
fense (85.7 points per game), scoring margin (+18.4) and assists
(17.63 per game) and come in second in areas such as 3-point
ers (.369 percent), field goals (.494) and defensive rebounding
(33.1 per game).
USC does lead the Gators in defensive scoring, averaging
66.3 ppg which places them in fourth place in the SEC. UF
comes in a close fifth with 67.3 ppg.
Having won 22 regular season games so far this year, the
Florida winning record is not to be overlooked.
» For the first time in school history, the Gators have swept
the SEC Wfestem Division. UF only needs to win one of their
remaining two games tq capture the SEC title for the first
time since 1989. A win against South Carolina also would break
the school record of 23 games won in a single season, set in
1993-94.
USC also stands in the way of the Gators tying their school
record of league wins at 12 in a season. The last time they came
this close, they went to divisional play in 1992.
Florida has won 28 games in the O’Dome in the past two
years and has earned some impressive spots when it comes to
national rankings.
Breaking the school record for number of weeks ranked
in a row, the Gators have held a top 25 spot for 17 weeks straight.
Currently they are eighth in the Associated Press poll, and
with a win over their last two opponents, could climb even high
er.
A consistent topic within the SEC this year has been the
youth of most of the men’s teams and how they’re holding up
against their more experienced counterparts.
With USC’s Chuck Eidson up for the SEC Freshman of the
Year award, it’s more than likely he’ll create some waves of his
own in Gainesville. Leading the SEC in steals with 3.07 per
game, Eidson has earned a starting position for the Gamecocks -
and isn’t the only rookie to do so.
Teammates Tony Kitchings and Marius Petravicius are two
more freshman starters who have been influences on the USC
team. ,
Another young statistics leader has been sophomore Jamel
Bradley who has led the Gamecocks in scoring for the past four
games. With his 3-point shooting at its best, Bradley has reached
double-figure scoring in six of the last seven games, averaging
13 PPg
USC guard Aaron Lucas, who missed the first meeting be
tween the two teams with a fractured bone in his right hand, re
turned to action against Mississippi State and can look forward
to helping himself to some of the game time being handed out
by USC head coach Eddie Fogler.
A year after starting four freshmen on opening day for the
first time in school history, the Gators have used three differ
ent lineups this season and have used the same lineup for the
last nine games. The Gators also can spend some time brag
ging about their own underclassmen players with a class of 11
freshmen or sophomores out of a roster of 15.
Senior Kenyan Weaks bids farewell tonight to the Gator
faithful. Wfeaks is the only Gator to play all four years under UF
head coach Billy Donovan and has watched the program grow
from being a 12-16 team the year before his arrival to being a
captain on a team aiming to go far in postseason play.
; South Carolina at No. 8 Florida
Probable starters
South Carolina (12-15,4-10 SEC)
14 Herbert Lee Davis
50 Tony Kitchings
12 Marius Petravicius
10 Jamel Bradley
31 Chuck Eidson
Head Coach
Eddie Fogler
Florida (22-5,11-3 SEC)
00 Brent Wright F
25 Major Parker F
50 UdontfHaslem C
5 Teddy Dupay G
13 Mike Miller G
Head Coach
Billy Donovan
Location: Stephen C O’Connell Cotter (12,000)
Time: 7 pjn.
Television: None
Rado: WVOC-560 AM
Matthews earns
Pitcher of Week
Softball. Roundup
Gamecock Sports
Sophomore Megan Matthews
earned the SEC Pitcher of the Week
award for her outstanding play at the
^ GJjfclstone’s Tournament in Tampa, Fla.,
"last weekend.
This is the first time the sopho
more pitcher has earned the honor this
season, but she tied a USC record
last season by earning the honor three
times.
The Greer, S.C., native accom
plished a 2-1 record in the tournament,
helping USC to a 4-1 record and a
tournament crown. Matthews also
earned most valuable pitcher honors
tor her performance on the mound.
After throwing a no-hitter in her
home-field debut, Matthews pitched
10 full innings in USC’s 2-1 win
over No. 9 Michigan.
The preseason All-American
recorded 19 strikeouts in 24 innings
last weekend and has 74 strikeouts in
'6^inings so far this season.
Matthews and the Lady Gamecocks
m°ved to 9-5 with the strong week
end showing. USC travels to Chapel
Hill Thursday for a doubleheader
against the Tar Heels at 3 p.m.
The No. 18 USC squad doesn’t re
ton* to Columbia until a March 11
matchup with Hofstra.
Sean Rayford Gameock Sports
Sophomore pitcher Meaan Matthews was named SEC Pitcher of the
Sean Rayford Gameock Sports
Marius Petra vici us tries to score over LSU’s Jabari Smith during the Gamecocks’ 64-59 loss to the Tigers
Feb. 23. USC takes on No. 8 Florida tonight in Gainesville.
Fabris leaves USC
football for Browns
Football Roundup
Gamecock Sports
Gamecock assistant football coach
Jon Fabris announced Monday he
will leave USC to join the Cleveland
Browns’ coaching staff where he will
work as special teams and defensive as
sistant.
Fabris, 42, came to USC from
Kansas State last season to fill the po
sitions of both special teams coordina
tor and defensive ends coach.
After an 0-11 season, thought was
given to splitting the special teams du
ties among several coaches to help the
“disastrous” USC special teams, head
coach Lou Holtz said.
Fabris wouldn’t say whether that
thought influenced his decision to leave.
Earlier this month, Fabris turned
down an offer from Southern Cal to be
an assistant coach for the Trojans. But
his decision to become an assistant to
two assistant coaches at Cleveland has
raised some eybrows, especially since
Fabris said coaching in the National
Football League wasn’t an attraction
to him.
At Cleveland,JFabris will assist spe
cial teams coach Mark Michaels. How
OVOr ho:ul rnnrll Pliric Pnlmnr Ivic m\l_
FABRIS
decided whether Fabris will work with
the defensive line or linebackers.
Earning about $90,000 a year, Fab
ris not only was one of USC’s highest
paid coaches overall, but he also was
the highest-paid non-coordinator. He
made only $5,000 less than defensive
coordinator Charlie Strong.
Moving around has been an im
portant part of Fabris’ life. Ohio will
mark the 11th state and fourth time
zone in which Fabris will have lived.
The Gamecocks now will have to
decide whether to continue using a spe
cial teams coordinator or to find other
ways to coach individual positions.
Baseball
South Carolina’s baseball squad was
awarded in the national polls Monday
by jumping up from their previous No.
18 ranking.
The Collegiate Baseball poll moved
the 12-0 Gamecocks fair spots to No.
14, while Baseball America granted
them the No. 16 spot.
Next the team will play Radford in
a three-game weekend series. The first
game is scheduled to begin Friday at 3
p.m. at Sarge Frye Field.
If Coach Ray Tanner’s Gamecocks
win two games against Radford, they will
break the previous record of 13 straight
wins to start a season, set in 1980 by
Coach June Raines’ NCAA squad. The
longest overall winning streak in Car
olina history is 17 games, set in 1975 by
coach Bobby Richardson. That team end
ed the season with a 51-6 regular season
record and advanced to the finals of
the College Wbrld Series.
Men’s basketball
Tlie cliampionship game of the SEC
tournament has beci. changed to a 1 p.m.
tipoff. The game will be televised na