The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 05, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, December 5, 2001 ,
9
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Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Georgetown, 7 p.m. Thursday
Write us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Wofford, 2 p.m. Saturday
MEN'S BASKETBALL at. Clemson, 7 p.m. Saturday
Gamecocks beat Friars
for fourth straight win
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
Are these the real South
Carolina Gamecocks? Tony
Kitchings wasn’t in the lineup.
Aaron Lucas made only one of 11
attempted field goals. Derek
Watson scored a point. In light of
these things, the Gamecocks (5-2)
still had a decisive 67-48 win
against the Providence Friars (5
3), 67-48.
After the game, USC head
coach Dave Odom said he was
impressed with his team’s de
fense.
“I am very pleased with our
team,” Odom said. “I felt there
were two keys to the game. One
was our defense. I thought it was
extrodinary. We showed a lot of
energy and a lot of commitment.
The other was that our guys
didn’t flinch without Tony
[Kitchings].”
Kitchings suffered a concus
sion against Colorado State on
Saturday night and is expected
to return to practice today.
After pulling out to an early
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themselves tied at eleven with
the Friars. But, after a Rolando
Howell field goal, USC coasted on
a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.
The Friars were only able to rally
for 19 first-half points as the
Gamecocks went into the locker
room with a solid 28-19 lead.
South Carolina had trouble with
free throws in the first half, con
verting only six of 13.
The Friars wouldn’t go down
silently, however. Three minutes
into the half, John Linehan made
a steal from Marius Petravicius.
Linehan passed to Marc Douthit,
who made the layup to narrow
the lead to seven. The Gamecocks
began to pull away again, but
Providencp slowed them down
again, cutting their lead to seven
off a Garnett Thompson layup.
Jamel Bradley then led his
team down the court to begin a
20-4 run that would put the game
out of reach for Providence.
Bradley hit a three-pointer and
Chuck Eidson followed with two
straight free throws to bring the
crowd to life and solidify the
Gamecock lead.
With the Gamecocks boasting
a 23-point lead, the crowd began
chanting “We want Derek.”
The star tailback had only be
gun practice Sunday and wasn’t
Gamecock star tailback Derek Watson sees his first
minutes of playing time as a member of Dave Odom’s
basketball squad. Watson joined the team Sunday as a
point guard, photo by robert gruen
expected to contribute if. the
game was close. But with a se
cure lead, Watson entered the
game at the 1:45 mark with the
crowd going wild. Watson wasn’t
too successful in his first appear
ance on the hardwood, going 0-2
on field goals, but he hit one of
his two free-throw attempts.
The Friars committed 24
turnovers, while the Gamecocks
only let seven slip away. Eidson
posted four steals in the game.
Howell was perfect' in field
goals but struggled on the line,
as he was one for eight. The team
was 14 of 26 from the line.
Bradley was six for 12, including
four of eight on three-pointers
for a team-leading 17 points.
Edison had 14 points after hit
ting four field goals and six free
throws.
Despite Lucas’s less-than-stel
lar shooting performance, Odom
still gave him a vote of confidence
on his defensive play. Lucas,
though, was just happy that his
team was happy to come together
for the big win.
“We’re getting it done,” Lucas
saud. “And that’s one of the
things we’ve been concentrating
on: finishing our ball games. I
think we’ve done a great job so
far of doing so. We just have to
keep our focus.”
Odom was also pleased to see
the crowd starting to play a fac
tor in the game.
“I thought tonight the crowd
responded very well,” said Odom,
who has said he wants to see a Ml
arena for USC’s nationally tele
vised game on Thursday. “I ap
, predated those who were there.”
The Gamecocks will return to
action tomorrow night against
No. 15 Georgetown. The game
will be broadcast on ESPN. Tip
off is set for 7 p.m.
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Root for Volunteers
KYLE ALMOND
JBUZINI24@HOTMAIL.COM
USC’s football season has been
over for a couple weeks now, but
you Gamecock fans should still
crowd around your TV sets
Saturday to watch an SEC title
game that has huge implications
on our bowl destination.
You don’t have to wear
orange, you don’t have to sing
along to “Rocky Top,” but you
should definitely be pulling
hardcore for Tennessee to beat
LSU, as much as it might make
you want to vomit.
If the Vols win, we’re bound
for the Citrus Bowl, the best
bowl game outside the BCS.
However, if the Tigers win, we’re
looking at another Outback Bowl
or maybe even the prestigious
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Yes,
that’s sarcasm.
I don’t know about you, but I
really don’t feel like beating the
snot out of Ohio State again in
the Outback Bowl. I want the
Gamecocks to prove themselves
against a different opponent, a
team with a reputation for
winning bowl games. I want
exciting competition, a spicy,
mouth-watering matchup. And
no, North Carolina’s Julius
“Peppers” and Ronald “Curry”
do not qualify as such.
I want Michigan. I want the
Maize and Blue. I want the
tradition. I want “Hail to the
Victors.” A win over the
Wolverines, and the nation will
take notice. If we beat Ohio
State, people won’t really care
because we did the same thing
last season. If we beat UNC,
people won’t really care because
the ACC sucks.
There’s another reason to root
for the Vols, who would advance
to the national championship
game with a victory. If they lose,
that most likely will put
Nebraska in the Rose Bowl
against Miami and leave
♦ ALMOND, SEE PAGE 10
USC prepares for a key
showdown with Hoyas
19 Georgetown at USC
7 p.m. Thursday
at the Carolina Coliseum
TV: ESPN
Radio: 560-AM WVOC
BY PRESTON BAINES
THE GAMECOCK
The men’s basketball tean
knew its preseason conference
scheelule would be tough, and one
of its toughest opponents this sea
son comes into the Franl
McGuire Arena on Thursday
night for a showdown in front o:
a national TV audience.
The No. 19 Georgetown Hoya:
(5-1) come into town having beer
on a roll since an opening-season
upset at the hands of Georgia.
Carolina (5-2) succeeded
Monday at the daunting task of
stopping the great Providence
backcourt of John Linehan and
Abdul Mills.
Now, the Gamecocks will face
the challenge of stopping the front
court of the Hoyas, one of the most
formidable in the Big East confer
ence. Mike Sweetney and Wesley
Wilson have combined to average
32.7 points and 16.8 rebounds per
game and shoot 62.5 percent for
the season.
' Georgetown, a surprise NCAA
tournament team from last sea
son, is one of the favorites to win
the conference crown this season.
In addition to the Hoyas’ big
men, Aaron Lucas will again face
one of the best point guards in
the nation. • Senior Kevin
Braswell averages 15.2 points per
game and 5.5 assists. Braswell
has also shot 11 of 23 from three
point range.
There have been only two con
stants so far this season for the
Gamecocks. Jamel Bradley has
been one of the top scorers, and
Lucas has been tops in assists
without many turnovers.
In addition to stopping Linehan
on Monday, Lucas has done a
great job of neutralizing two of the
more talented point guards in the
nation. UCLA freshman Cedric
Bozeman scored only four points,
and Naismith Award candidate
Jason Williams of Duke scored
only six.
The game with the Hoyas rep
resents the third game of a brutal
four-game stretch.
On Saturday night, USC will
visit Clemson (5-2) and attempt to
top the Tigers for the second
straight season.
The game against the 19th
ranked Hoyas will tip off at 7 p.m.
Lady Gamecocks off to
best start in 13 years
BY COURTNEY KELLER
THE GAMECOCK
The Lady Gamecocks defeated
the Lady Owls of Temple
University last night, 68-65. USC
is off to its best start in 13 years,
going 7-1 to start the season. The
23rd-ranked Gamecocks have won
three straight at home.
“The game was very close, with
Temple being a quality team,”
said USC head coach Susan
Walvius. “They did not shoot the
ball well this season, but it seemed
like they did tonight.”
Temple started out with a big
lead in the first half by forcing
Carolina to take bad shots and turn
the ball over. In the first half,
Carolina struggled with its biggest
deficit all season, 14 points. Carolina
would come back within six points
at the half with a score of 28-22. It
was the first time this season that
Carolina did not lead at the half.
The Lady Gamecocks would
come back to life after halftime.
They played well offensively and
defensively, capitalizing on every
mistake made by Temple and
making their baskets count.
Carolina built a 10-point lead with
a 22-8 run to open the half. Temple
would come back and regain the
lead, 48-46. The lead would change
again, and Carolina ended up on
top with a score of 59-58. Temple
would tie the game at 60 with 1:43
left in the game. Carolina’s de
fense then came into play, forcing
three Temple turnovers. The Lady
Gamecocks persevered and would
hold on to win the game.
Carolina managed to keep
Athena Christoforakis, the Owls’ top
scorer, below her normal average.
“I thought we did a great job at
crush time. We diagramed the last
play for the team. We showed
them what they wer^ going to run
and called a time-out for Jocelyn
Lady Gamecocks guard Shaunzlnskl Gortman posts up for
two In the first half of last night’s game, photo by robert gruen
Penn to get the feel of the play.
That was a critical time. I thought
we started a little slow, struggling
offensively because we did not have
Shaunzinski Gortman in practice
with us this week. When you are in
a close game, a good team has to be
able to win it, and we came back
and took this one,” Walvius said.
Penn, who had 16 points on the
night, led Carolina. Tatyana
Troina followed with 12 and
Teresa Geter with 10. Geter also
contributed eight rebounds and
three blocked shots. For the Lady
Owls, Natalia Isaac was hot, rack
ing up 23 points.
Carolina outscored Temple in
the paint by 30-6. Temple connect
ed with 41.5 percent of its attempts
in the game and 83.3 percent of its
free throws. Carolina shot 56.7 per
cent in the second half and 59.1
percent at the free-throw line.
“I was pleased with the way we
handled the adversity tonight.
There’s a lot of stress added when
you are a ranked team,” Walvius
said. “We’ve done a good job so far
this season, and by winning close
games, that builds our confidence.”
Carolina will next face Wofford
on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the
Carolina Coliseum.