The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 06, 2000, Page 11, Image 11
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.