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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Men’s basketball vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Saturday ■ Women’s basketball at Duquesne, 2 p.m. Sunday ■ Equestrian in Irmo, S.C., Tuesday "" . . ..■■■ 1 . ... %ht (Bamecock - page 11 1 Holtz named SEC Coach of Year by Kyle Almond The Gamecock The accolades continue to pour in for USC head football coach Lou Holtz. The second-year coach at Car olina, who has twice before been named National Coach of the Year during his 28-year career, was named SEC Coach of the Year Tuesday by the Associated Press for guiding the Gamecocks to a 7-4 record and a post season bowl appearance. fi- Holtz is responsible for the sec ond-best turnaround in Division I-A college football history, as the Game cocks finished last season 0-11. The 7-4 overall record this year includes a 5-3 record in the SEC, the first win ning season for USC in its nine sea sons in the conference. “I’m always flattered,” Holtz said of receiving the award. “But all you have to realize is that Mike DuBose was (SEC) Coach of the Year last sea son.” DuBose was recently fired as head coach of Alabama. “One day you’re drinking wine, and the next day you’re picking grapes,” Holtz said. “That’s just how coaching goes.” It’s hard to see Holtz being fired anytime soon after the job he has done at Carolina. USC is the sixth team that Holtz has taken to a bowl game in only their second season. When most coaches would feel depressed and embarrassed after a winless sea son, Holtz remained focused. ' “You embarrass yourself when you stop trying and stop dreaming,” Holtz said. “We have a lot of dreams left. We want to continue to improve this program.” Holtz added that USC’s nightmare season a year ago only helped him to become more dedicated to improve ment. “You can lay there and let people kick you, or you can get yourself out of the hole,” he said. “We made the decision to get out.” Holtz’s award came a day after he was named Regional Coach of the Year by the American Football Coach es Association. He and four other re gional winners are finalists for the AFC A National Coach of the Year award, to be announced Jan. 9 in At lanta. The winner will serve as head coach at the 2002 Hula Bowl. The fi nalists include Miami’s Butch Davis, Northwestern’s Randy Walker, Ok lahoma’s Bob Stoops and Oregon State’s Dennis Erickson. Holtz has won AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors at four dif ferent schools in his career. He earned the honor at North Carolina State in 1972, Arkansas in 1979 and Notre Dame in 1988. USC assistants take honors While head coach Lou Holtz earns praise for a successful 2000 campaign, his assistants’ efforts aren’t going un noticed. USC defensive backs coach John Gutekunst was named the AFCA’s Assistant Coach of the Year for Di vision I-A, and defensive coordina tor Charlie Strong has been named as a finalist for the Broyles Award, also given to the nation’s top assistant coach. Gutekunst and Strong led the Gamecock defense to one of its best seasons in the SEC, as Carolina fin ished first in the conference in scor ing defense (7th in the NCAA) and second in pass defense efficiency. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a coaching staff or en joyed working with a coaching staff any more than I have this one,” Holtz said. “Any success we’ve had, or will have, should be credited to the players and the assistant coaches.” Gamecock players make All-SEC teams The Associated Press announced its All-SEC teams Tuesday along with the Coach of the Year award, and two Gamecocks made the first team. Linebacker Kalimba Edwards and offensive lineman Cedric Williams earned first team honors for their out standing 2000 season. Edwards, who also saw playing time at defensive end, finished the regular season first on the team in quarterback hurries (11) and third in tackles (69) and sacks (4). Williams started eight games at left tackle for the Gamecocks and opened up big holes for running back Derek Watson. Watson made the All SEC second team. Receiving honorable mention for all-conference honors were quarter back Phil Petty and comerback Shel don Brown. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.cotn. Sean Ratford The Gamecock Florida head coach Steve Spurrier (left) meets with South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz at midfield after the Gators defeated the Gamecocks 41-21. Holtz was named SEC Coach of the Year Tuesday. Holtz is also a finalist for National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Gamecocks to a 7-4 overall record and a 5-3 conference mark. He already has two National Coach of the Year awards under his belt. * Men’s basketball wins at Citadel , * Ppr Sean Rayford The Gamecock Gamecock center Marius Petravicius rises for a shot over Tennessee Tech’s Larrie Smith. Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Travis Cantrell and Alan Puckett missed 3-point ers in the final 15 seconds as South Car olina survived The Citadel’s upset bid as the Gamecocks came away with a 74-71 victory Tuesday night — their 42nd win in 43 games against the Bulldogs. After Cantrell, who hit four treys and finished with 16 points, missed his 3 pointer, Puckett couldn’t connect on a wide-open trey with about one second left as the Gamecocks (4-2) survived. The Citadel, which also gave Clemson fits be fore losing 84-76 on Nov. 25, falls to 3 3. USC saw its 47-36 halftime lead whit tled to one as the Bulldogs put together a 10-0 run in the first 6:46. Cliff Whsh bum, who finished with a career-high 23 points, picked up where he left off from his 16-point first half by canning a pair of buckets before Cantrell and Puck ett swished 3-pointers to pull the Bull dogs within one. The Gamecocks, who missed seven shots and committed four turnovers to start the second half, finally got on the scoreboard on Marius Petravicius three point play. But South Carolina contin ued to struggle to shake the pesky Bull dogs, who gave Clemson fits before losing 84-76 on Nov. 25. With Jamel Bradley’s 3-pointer and Chuck Edson’s two foul shots, the Game cocks opened up a 57-50 lead, but the Bulldogs closed to 61-59 on Washburn’s three-point play with 4:27 left. Then Edson took over. He hit two free throws with 4:17 left to make it 63-59. Then he stole the ball from behind on Wtshbum and Tony Etch ings turned it into a layup with 3:20 re maining to give South Carolina a 65-59 lead. Edson then deflected a pass by Puck ett and, after Antonio Grant s missed 3 pointer, grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He hit both free throws, upping the Gamecocks lead to 67-59 with 2:50 left. The Citadel (3-3), which hasn’t beat a Division I team this year, refused to go quietly. Puckett hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by Bradley — he made the free throw to cut the lead to 69-65 with 1:36 left. After Aaron Lucas made a pair of foul shots, Cantrell nailed a long 3-point er to slice the deficit to 71-68 with 1:02 to go. And it still wasn’t over. After Lucas’ layup, Romas Eywo nis scored on a follow and was fouled by Grant. Krywonis made the foul shot, pulling The Citadel to 73-71 with 19.8 seconds left. Bradley made the second of two free throws to up the lead to four with 18.3 seconds left, giving The Citadel one last chance, but both Cantrell and Puckett came up short as South Carolina held on to win. The Gamecocks were led by Etch ings with a career-high 21 points and eight rebounds, while Lucas added 17 points. The game was played before 5,822, the sixth-laigest crowd in McAlister Reid House history. Buckeyes bring tradition to bowl game by Michael Haney The Gamecock South Carolina’s opponent in the Outback Bowl is as old school as ..they come. The Ohio State Buck ■ eyes use the traditional Big Ten style of strong defense and a power run ning game. In their 111th season, OSU has an all-time record of 725-286-3. The Buckeyes have had just 11 losing seasons, and none since 1925. This year’s Buckeyes (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten) started the season off 5-0 and rose to a top 10 ranking. How ever, they struggled after their ini tial start, losing three of their last six games to Minnesota, Purdue and ri val Michigan. OSU went into its sea son finale against Michigan in a four way tie for the Big Ten lead, but lost to the Wolverines 38-26. This year, OSU finished first in the Big Ten in scoring defense, giv ing up only 18.0 points per game. Ohio State’s rushing defense holds tean£ to an average of 94 yards a game, best in the Big Ten and sev enth in the nation. The Buckeyes have also recorded a Big Ten-lead ing 45 sacks this season, which is two shy of the school record set in 1998. Senior defensive ends Brent Johnson and Rodney Bailey lead the Buckeyes in sacks with eight and seven respectively, followed by line backer Courtland Bullard with six. Offensively, OSU is lead by quar terback Steve Bellisari. He has thrown for 2,001 yards and 14 touch downs this season with eight inter ceptions. His favorite target is Ken Yon Rambo, who has 51 catches for 729 yards. Rambo is a speedster who runs a 4.28 in the 40-yard sprint. The Buckeyes line up in the I formation with a combination of Derek Combs and back-up Jonathon Wells. Combs is the team’s leading rusher with 863 yards, averaging 86.3 yards per game. Buckeye head coach John Coop er is looking forward to his team’s game with the Gamecocks, the first ever between the two schools. “You play in a Jan. 1 bowl game, you’re going to play against a good football team, and that will definitely be the case when we meet South Car olina,” Cooper said. “I have the greatest respect in the world for Lou Holtz. He is one of the great all-time coaches, and his team has to be one of the Cinderel la stories in college football this year.” Holtz is equally praising of the Buckeyes, saying that he is glad they are playing a team with the tradition that Ohio State has. “I’d rather our players be in awe of playing Ohio State than be play ing a team they weren’t excited about playing,” Holtz said. “I think our team is excited about the possibili ty of playing a program with as rich of a tradition as Ohio State.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. OUTBACK BOWL Ohio State vs. South Carolina January 1,2001 Tampa, Fla. Raymond James Stadium Tickets are $45 and will be sold to students in the Russell House lobby this week. Students may buy as many tickets as they wish. Lady Gamecocks fall to N.C. State ■ Wolfpack hold off late Carolina rally to win 55-48 by Casey White The Gamecock The South Carolina women’s bas ketball team dropped their second match-up in a row Monday night af ter a tough battle with No. 22 North Carolina State. The host Lady Gamecocks (2-6) fell 55-48, and the Wolfpack (5-1) extended their winning streak to four. • Almost pulling off the win for the Lady Gamecocks was junior forward Tatyana Troina, who came off the bench to score 13 total points, the highest of the team, on five of eight shooting. Troina also led the team in rebounds with nine. Despite the loss, South Carolina head coach Susan Walvius was proud of her team’s ability to give one of the nation’s top teams a close game. “We really fought hard out there,” Walvius said. “Troina-especially showed a lot of heart out there tonight, something we need all of the time. But we’re still looking for some fire, intensity and leadership on the court.” Shaunzinski Gortman contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Gamecocks, and Teresa Geter added nine points and a team-high three steals to the cause. The first half opened with both teams bouncing the score back and forth until the Wolfpack scored an unanswered 11 points to open up the score 20-9. Carolina rallied back, however, as Shannon Segres came in the game to score four points on a pair of lay-ups. Segres gave South Carolina enough momentum to start a 9-2 run before closing the half. With eight seconds left to play in the first half, Troina, assisted by Geter, drove in a 3-pointer from the right comer to close the gap to four go ing into the locker room. In the second half, the score re mained close as each team executed well and connected on shots regu larly. With about three and a half min utes remaining, Troina was fouled and given the opportunity to tie the score at 42. She netted the first free throw, but bounced the second one off the rim. Troina was there to re cover her own miss, however, and turned a mistake into a two-point lay up and a Gamecock lead. North Carolina State answered immediately with a series of lay-ups to take a three-point lead. Once again, it was Troina who came to the rescue as she banked a 3-pointer in from the left corner to tie the game at 46 with a little more than two minutes remaining. Tynesha Lewis saved the Wolf pack by scoring seven of her 21 to tal points in the final two minutes of play, and South Carolina was un able to catch up in time. USC netted 70 percent of their free throws, and dominated in de fensive rebounds with 11 to the Wolf pack’s 4. However, the Lady Gamecocks were plagued with 27 turnovers, from which N.C. State pro duced 28 points. N.C. State head coach Kay Yow was relieved to escape with a win. “It was not pretty out there tonight,” Yow said. “Anyone could see that it was a scratch and claw to victory. We are fortunate to have won.” The Lady Gamecocks will go back on the road this weekend and try to get back in the win column when they take on Duquesne on Sun day. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. December 4,2000 at Frank McGuire Arena, Columbia, S.C. No. 22 N.C. STATE 55, SOUTH CAROLINA 48 No. 22 N.C. STATE (5-1) Bates 1-4 1-2 3, Scales 2-4 0-. 1 4, Moody 4-10 3-4 11, Lewis 8 22 3-4 21, Hutcherson 1-2 0-0 2, Rivers 0-2 0-0 0, Olanrewaju 1-5 1-2 3, Labador 0-1 0-0 0, Gard ner 2-3 0-0 4, Simpson 1-4 0-0 3, Greene 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 22-61 8 13 55. SOUTH CAROLINA (2-6) Ujhelyi 2-6 1-2 5, Geter4-6 l-z y, Anaz 1-4 3-4 o, atronm 1 5 0-0 2, Gortman 4-13 2-2 10, Ajanovic 0-0 0-0 0, Ciocan 0-0 O 0 0, Troina 5-8 1-2 13, Segres 2 2 0-0 4. Totals 19-44 8-12 48. Halftime—State 22, SC 18.3 Point goals—State 3-18 (Bates 0 2, Lewis 2-8, Rivers 0-1, Labador 0-1, Gardner 0-1 Simpson 1-4, Greene 0-1), SC 2-7 (Strohm 0 1, Gortman 0-3, Troina 2-3). Fouled out—Ujhelyi. Rebounds— State 29 (Lewis 6), SC 39 (Troina 9). Assists—State 10 (Lewis 4), SC 12 (Ujhelyi, Geter, Gortman 3). Total fouls—State 13, SC 15.