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4 Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Swimming at SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Wednesday-Saturday ■ Baseball vs. George Mason, 3 p.m. Friday ■ Softball at NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., 2:30 p.m. Friday ■ Men’s basketball at Georgia, 5 p.m. Saturday Page 10 “““ 'Cltf (BaiUCCOCk Wednesday, February 21,2001 Carolina blows lead, falls to Razorbacks ■ Arkansas goes on 14-2 run in final three minutes of game — I by Chris Foy The Gamecock The University of South Carolina’s men’s basketball team suffered a devas tating blow to their NCAA Tournament hopes Tuesday night as they dropped a heartbreaker to the Arkansas Razorbacks 69-67. The loss marked the third straight loss for USC and the third straight against a SEC West foe. The loss also marked the second straight game USC led by double digits in the second half only to be beat en by their opponent in the closing min utes. After the game, USC head coach Ed die Fogler was sympathetic to his team’s effort. “I feel sorry for them, Fogler said. “I have rarely ever felt sorry for a team that I have coached, but their effort contin ues to be good. We’ll see if we can re group.” Though South Carolina lost the game, they wrn the statistical battle. Their shoot ing was considerably better than their av erage as they shot 49 percent. The Ra zorbacks shot 41 percent. The real difference in the game was the free throws. The Gamecocks went to the line 18 times and put in 18 of 31. Arkansas made only one trip to the line and was one for one on the evening. The Gamecocks also had three double-digit scorers. The first half opened with a 3-point er by USC guard Antonio Grant, but the game quickly went into the Razor backs’ favor as Arkansas responded by going on a 10-3 run to go up 10-6. The Gamecocks drove back, but found it difficult to score against Arkansas’s quick, high-pressure defense. USC tied the game at 31 after for ward Rolando Howell put in two free throws with 2:50 left in the half. Off of a 13-2 run, USC reclaimed the lead to make the score 37-33 at halftime. South Carolina started the second half with some shaky shooting and by taking most of their shots on the ffee-throw line. The Razorbacks fared no better, how ever, with most of their shots hitting the goal and bouncing out. The Gamecocks picked up some con sistency and went on an 8-2 run to lead 65-55. After a timeout with 3:36 re maining in the game, the Razorbacks had a 6-0 run in 45 seconds to take control of the game. When the Gamecocks got the ball, Arkansas guard Brandon Dean stole the ball and made a layup. On South Caroli na’s next possession, the Razorbacks stole the ball again and scored Then Arkansas’s Joe Johnson made a layup on the inbound to make it a four-point game. On the Gamecocks’ next possession, the ball was stolen by TJ. Cleveland who put in a layup to bring the-game within one. Howell responded with two, only to be answered by Dean, who put in a 3 pointer. The shot put Arkansas within one at 67-66. The Razorbacks got a rebound off a South Carolina missed field goal with 30 seconds remaining in the game. They pro ceeded to run the clock down, and, at the 12-second mark, Johnson nailed a 3-point er to put the Razorbacks up 69-67, Grant took a last-cecond 3-point shot, but it missed and was recovered by Arkansas, who held it out until time ex pired. Arkansas was led by Cleveland who had 15 points on the night. Howell had an impressive evening despite the loss, with 20 points and 16 rebounds. After the game, Howell wished he could have done more. 69 67 “[I] took it up a level, but it wasn’t enough to get us a win tonight. Wfe’rejust going to have to go out and keep work ing hard,” Howell said. Arkansas leads the overall series 9 2. The Gamecocks drop to 13-11 (5-8). Their next game will be against the Geor gia Bulldogs on Saturday in Athens. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Arkansas 69 (16-9, 7-6 SEC) FG FT R A TO PF TP Baker 1-6 04) 2 0 0 0 2 Gomez 1-3 04) 4 1 0 4 2 Satchell 3-6 0-0 6 0 1 4 6 Dean 3-7 04) 1 1 1 2 7 Gipson 3-7 04) 0 0 1 1 6 Tatum 04 04) 2 1 0 1 0 Cleveland 6-9 1-13 3 1 2 15 Pargo 4-11 OO 1 2 1 3 8 Davis 1-1 OO 0 0 0 0 3 Eddins 1-1 OO 1 0 0 1 3 Johnson 5-1500 7 5 1 2 11 Lane 3-6 OO 2 0 1 4 6 TOTAL 31-76 1-1 34 13 7 24 69 South Carolina 67 (13-11,5-8) FG FT R A TO PF TP Petravidus1-1 OO 1 0 0 2 2 Grant 3-8 1-2 10 0 2 2 8 Kitchings 3-5 6-9 7 5 3 2 12 Lucas 2-6 1-3 2 4 7 2 5 Bradley 4-112-2 0 0 1 1 13 Ross 1-3 2-2 2 2 0 1 4 Boynton 1-2 00 2 0 3 0 3 Howell 7-9 6-1316 1 3 1 20 TOTAL 22-4518-3142 12 19 11 67 Halftime score: South Carolina 37-33 3-point shooting: Artansas 6-20 (Dean 13, Gipson 01. Tatum 04, Cleveland 24, Pargo 0-5, Davis 1-1, Eddns 1-1, Johnson 1-1), South Carolina 5-18 (Grant 16, Lucas Ol, Bradley 3-7, Ross 0-2, Boynton 1-2) Steals: Arkansas 12-5 Blocks: South Carolina 5-1 Attendance: 5,962 Sean Rayford/The Gamecock Jamel Bradley hit three 3-pointere Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Razorbacks away. NCAA Tournament hopes fading fast after defeat Special to The Gamecock Marius Petravicius and USC have their work cut out for them in the final three games of the regular season. by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds remain ing Tuesday night clinched an Arkansas victory and put a serious damper on USC’s postseason aspirations. Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler has said that if the Gamecocks could win half of their conference games and finish the regular season at .500, then they should make the NCAA Tournament. But to do that now, USC (5-8 SEC) has to win their final three games on the schedule, no easy task con sidering the Gamecocks have lost three straight. Carolina looked to be in good position to beat Arkansas, a team that, at 6-6 in the SEC, is one USC is competing with for an at-laige bid. But a 14-2 Ra zorback run to end the game wiped it all away. The Gamecocks are now left with a difficult task. Win out the remaining games on the schedule, or earn an automatic bid by winning the SEC Tourna ment. Tony Kitchings has confidence in the team’s abil ity to bounce back from a tough loss like Tuesday’s. “One thing about this team is we take [the losses] hard at first, and then when we come back to prac tice, we come back to practice,” Kitchings said. “We don’t come back crying that we lost. We take it like a man.” Fogler also thinks the team has the ability to re cover. “They’ve been resilient,” Fogler said. “It will be tough [to recover], but we’ll see if we can regroup.” Carolina will take on Georgia at Stegeman Coli seum Saturday. Last season, the Gamecocks were blown out in Athens 90-62. After Georgia, USC’s next game will be against No. 22 Tennessee on Tuesday. It will be the final home game of the regular season and will be televised na tionally on ESPN. A match-up with Mississippi State will conclude Carolina’s season. To freshman Rolando Howell, there’s no special trick to turn things around. “We just have to keep playing hard,” Howell said. “We have to give it all our best and wait things out.” Fogler has said he is happy with how hard the team has been playing. “Our effort has continued to be good,” he said. “That’s now three games in a row that has went right down to the wire. We have put ourselves in position to win.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Eastern Division SEC All Kentucky 10-2 17-7 Florida 8-4 18-5 Georgia 7-5 14-11 Tennessee 5-7 18-8 USC 5-8 13-11 Vanderbilt 4-8 15-10 Western Division SEC All Ole Miss 9-3 21-4 Alabama 8-4 20-5 Arkansas 7-6 16-9 Auburn 5-7 15-10 Miss. St. 4-8 13-10 LSU 1-11 11-12 Around The SEC UK’s Smith in store for an extension by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Tubby Smith, who has his Wildcats atop the SEC stand ings and ranked No. 13 nationally, looks to be in store for a contract extension at the end of the year. UK Athletics SMITH Director Larry Ivy said he thinks Smith is doing a “great job” this season and that he would like to discuss long-term plans for the four-year coach at the season’s end. Smith, who has endured his share of criticism since taking over the job from Rick Pitino, is enthusiastic about extending his jtay at his alma mater. “I’m gung-ho about it,” Smith told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “Thai’s a good word. Gung-ho.” NR\ teams expressed interest in Smith at the end of last season, and there arc rumors circulating that this is the case this season. But if Smith has his way, he won’t be leaving the Bluegrass State. “We’ve been very comfortable and pleased here,” Smith said, speaking on behalf of his fam ily. “We’re happy where we are.” Smith won a national championship in his first season with the Wildcats, but has yet to prove himself to some of the UK faithful, who have criticized hint since he replaced Pitino in 1997. _»_ SEC SEE PAGE 11 Gamecock swimmers prepare for conference championships by Maneshka Eliatamby The Gamecock The USC swimming and diving teams will begin competition today at their biggest meet of the year, the SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa. Last year, the teams finished eighth and sixth respectively at the SEC Championships. This year, they go into the competition aiming to improve on last year’s mark and vying to finish among the top teams in the conference. The Gamecocks have been competing since last September and are expected to fine well at the meet. This season, they have kept up with notable swimming schools such as Cal-Bcrkclcy and Washington State. In November, USC managed to finish just behind Cal-Berkeley, one of the nation’s best swimming and diving teams, which shows how much the team has improved since last season. This improvement is a product of extensive training under head coach Don Gibb and his three assistants. But the improvement can also be attributed to the team’s new athletes. This year’s Gamecock swimming and diving teams are almost twice the size they were last year. All eyes will be on USC Olympian Zsolt Gaspar, who won his first SEC title last year, and former All-American Sarah Doyle. Both Gaspar and Doyle are expected to win their respective events. _e Swim see page n