The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 21, 2001, Page 10, Image 10
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