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PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
Frank McGuire Arena empties for the last time after a men’s basketball game. USC suffered a loss on Senior Day against Mississippi State on Saturday.
BY TRAVIS BOLAND
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball team
played its final regular season game
at Frank McGuire Arena on
Saturday afternoon, effectively end
ing an era in Gamecock sports.
Former Gamecock player and NBA
star Alex English said, “There are a
lot of memories in that place.”
The Gamecocks played their
first game in the Carolina
Coliseum on Nov. 30,1969, defeat
ing the Auburn Tigers 51-49. They
were led by junior Bobby
Cremins, who later would coach
the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Lady Gamecocks took the
court for the first time in 1973.
On Jan. 5,1970, Frank McGuire
led his third-ranked Gamecocks
against the fourth-ranked North
Carolina Tar Heels led by Dean
Smith. North Carolina used a
slow-paced offense that kept the
game close until the second half,
when USC was able to wear down
the Tar Heels and win the game.
Smith tried to silence the
Gamecock shooters by playing
five on four and leaving forward
John Ribock open for most of the
night. Ribock, normally a 30.8 per
cent shooter, hit six of his first
nine shots and was the only man
with more than one basket in the
first 20 minutes of the game.
On Dec. 22,1972, Bobby Knight
brought his eighth-ranked Indiana
Hoosiers to Columbia. This turned
out to be a battle between two
freshmen superstars in English
and Indiana’s Quinn Buckner.
Indiana led by 16 points in the sec
ond half, but USC cut the deficit.
With under six minutes to play,
English put the Gamecocks ahead
by one, 78-77. There were seven
lead changes in the final minutes,
but Brian Winters put in two free
throws with 19 seconds left to ice
the 88-85 USC victory.
Just two years after USC joined
the SEC, new head coach Eddie
Fogler took over and rebuilt the
program from the ground up. The
Gamecocks were just 3-12 in con
ference play heading into their fi
nal game of the season against the
heavily favored Kentucky
Wildcats. Kentucky was 23-5 over
all and headed to the NCAA
Tournament. The game came
down to the final seconds, and af
ter Tony Delk put the Wildcats up
74-73, USC came down the floor
with 33 seconds remaining. USC
senior Jamie Watson handled the
ball and found Carey Rich, who
drove the lane and dumped the
ball to Emmett Hall. Hall laid the
ball in with three seconds left to
secure a 75-74 victory.
The Gamecocks beat Kentucky
again in overtime during their
1997 SEC Championship cam
paign and were led by the trio of
Larry Davis, Melvin Watson, and
B. J. McKie. In 1998, USC overcame
a 23-point deficit and Antonio
Grant hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer
to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Fresh in the minds of most USC
fans is Travis Kraft’s 3-pointer to
beat Florida last season.
Perhaps the last great night for
the Carolina Coliseum was the Lady
Gamecocks’ Jan. 17 game against
Tennessee this season. The women’s
team shattered a 10-year-old atten
dance record by bringing 12,168 fans
into the arena for the game, nearly
doubling the previous mark set
against UCLA in 1981. Though the
game ended in defeat, the record
crowd signified a new era of appre
ciation for Susan Walvius’ team.
The USC basketball teams
move into the new arena two
blocks away in November to start
the 2002-03 seasons.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Softball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
game. Hall and Adrianna Baggetta
also scored in the third.
Meghan Cornett’s fifth-inning
single brought home the final two
runs to seal the game.
Aleca Johnson pitched 2 2/3 in
nings of relief to earn the victory,
1 ' ~
striking out four and giving up
three hits.
A 13-hit attack by USC on
Saturday gave Compton her 700th
win at Carolina. The Lady
Gamecocks prevailed 6-0 over the
Missouri Tigers as Matthews went
the distance with a four-hit, 12
strikeout performance. Sandel
opened the scoring, crossing home
on Baggetta’s second-inning dou
ble, and the Lady Gamecocks
added five more runs over the
course of the game. Sandel went 3
for-4 with a triple while Jodi Fittro
scored two runs. Ingrid Werner
took the loss for Missouri.
Stacey Johnson and Aleca
Johnson pitched a two-hitter
against Michigan State, as the
Lady Gamecocks won 2-1.
Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the sec
ond inning on Curtis’ solo shot,
with Kim Evans breaking the tie
in the fifth inning, singling in Hall.
Aleca Johnson (3-1) got credited
with the win, while both Johnsons
combined for 11 strikeouts.
Evans led the Lady Gamecocks
by going 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Sandy Lewis drove in the only run
and Becky Gray took the loss for
the Spartans.
On Sunday, the Lady
Gamecocks picked up their fourth
win in the tournament after they
knocked off Central Michigan (6
5). Matthews (7-2) pitched a two
hit shutout in addition to tallying
eight strikeouts en route to the 2-0
win.
The Lady Gamecocks return
home on Wednesday with a 3 p.m.
doubleheader against UNC
Greensboro at Beckham Field.
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gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Basketball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
half. The Gamecocks forced 12
turnovers in the first half that
enabled them to score easy bas
kets off the fast break and grab"
the lead.
In the second half, USC led
by as many as eight points un
til the Bulldogs went on a run
of their own. At the 8:04 mark,
Derrick Zimmerman’s layup
tied the game at 48. On their
next possession, the Bulldogs
took the lead 50-49.
Howell kept the Gamecocks
'in the game with free throws
down the stretch, but the poor
outside shooting continued to
haunt USC. Carolina kept
shooting in the final minute,
but no one connected from long
range.
Zimmerman scored the last
field goal of the day with 36.8
seconds left, and Austin chipped
in a few free throws. USC’s fate
was sealed and Mississippi State
took the win to grab second
place in the SEC West.
After the game, Odom
shared his thoughts.
“I thought the*defense was
very, very good,” he said. “We
were able to keep their offense
under control. We played as
well as we could considering
tve couldn’t make outside
shots. They made theirs down
the stretch, and we didn’t do
±1-A- »»
There were over 9,000 fans in
attendance to celebrate the final
men’s basketball game. The 1971.
ACC championship team and
the 1997 SEC championship
team were recognized at half
time, and players from all
decades were saluted as well
throughout the game. Also in at
tendance was Frank McGuire’s
wife, son, and daughter.
The Gamecocks must now
put this loss behind them and
prepare for the SEC
Tournament, which begins
on Thursday in Atlanta. USC
will play Ole Miss in the first
round on Thursday at 9:45 p.m.
*“It’s frustrating and disap
pointing, but we have to move
' on to the next game,” Lucas
said.
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gamecocksports@hotmail.com
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