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SEC TOURNAMENT Higher seeds justified in first round games LSU 69, Vanderbilt 62 ATLANTA (AP) — Antonio Hudson scored a career-high 24 points, including 15 in the second half, to lift LSU to a 69-62 victory over Vanderbilt on Thursday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tour nament. The Tigers (17-13) advance to meet 17th-ranked Georgia, the East Division top seed, on Friday. Jermaine Williams added 12 points and five steals as LSU scored 28 points off 23 turnovers. Torris Bright had 11 points, four steeds and four assists. Leading scorer Ronald Dupree was held to seven points, nearly 10 below his average. The Commodores (16-14) got 21 points from Chuck Moore, who had three 3-pointers but didn’t make a field goal in the final 19 minutes. His 3-pointer to open the second half gave him 13 straight points. Tennessee 68, Arkansas 61 ATLANTA (AP) — Arkansas never imagined its season would end like this: Nolan Richardson at home, and the Razorbacks about to join him. A disappointing year that took a stunning twist in the past week ended Thursday with Arkansas losing to Tennessee 68-61 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. For the first time since 1985-86 -— Richardson’s initial season as their coach — the Razorbacks (14-15) failed to qualify for a post season berth. Richardson was lucky he didn’t have to coach in the sea son finale. Arkansas went almost eight minutes without a field goal, squandering a nine-point lead in the second half. Vincent Yarbrough scored 20 points for Tennessee (15-15), which overcame the deficit de spite going 6:09 without scoring. No. 11 Florida 81, Auburn 63 ATLANTA (AP) — Udonis Haslem had 22 points and 10 re bounds, and Brett Nelson hit six 3-pointers as No. 11 Florida beat Auburn 81-63 Thursday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tour nament. The Gators (22-7) play Mississippi State in Friday’s quarterfinals. They’ll need to win four games in four days to take their first SEC tournament title. Nelson had 23 points and four assists, shooting 6-of-ll on 3 pointers. Haslem was 7-of-7 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free throw line against Auburn’s short-handed and undersized frontcourt before fouling out with 2:11 left. Haslem also had three assists and two blocked shots. Matt Bonner had nine points and sev en rebounds as the Gators domi nated the boards 38-26. The Gators couldn’t separate themselves from the Tigers (12 16) until the final eight minutes. St. Patty's Day @ JUI1GLE JIM'S Sat. 3.16.02 gates open @12pm 724 Harden St. 803.256.1390 Suck David Dunning Voices of Dissent Millhouse King Hippo The Soul Mites Rev-7 The Women of Crime M Produced by Jungle Jim's & The Soul Mites www.soulmltes.com II nat,H?Indary ™<S£?M32E1«msic» , "YOUu STICKr „„?« ® F“NNIJST — sBBUe®. I^SfT WRfNCMiN©,* JERKING FUNNY" l«onltoj«rsil)rI»rtjte * * ~KYAN MYNOUS IS FANTASTIC' TH E TRADITION CONTINUES THIS SPRING [aWKANI ^ **T*d wvm.noHomillampooii.cofw _ DitSadBliWBfMNadtafodKfcm6aMt(t Nnftetii«jMatK£ AllighfiRasarvif. t I BRIEFLY McPherson wins Spartan Invitational The USC women’s golf team fin ished in 10th place Wednesday at San Jose State’s Spartan Invitational, but the Lady Gamecocks’ own Kristy McPherson won the individual competition. McPherson’s final round 71 gave her a three-day total of 211 (5 under). The score was good. enough for her second victory of the year, in addition to an earlier victory at the Dodge ACC/SEC Shootout in September. USC finished with a three-day team total of 913 after firing a final round 302. The rest of the Lady Gamecocks all fired rounds in the 70s on Wednesday. Sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux fired a final round 76 to finish with a three-day total of234, tied for 45th place. Senior Reetta Laakkonen shot a 79 (235, T 48th place), while junior Kacy Thompson (76,237,53rd place) and sophomore Marti Robinson (79,239, T-56th place) rounded out the field. Carolina will next compete in the Lady Gamecock Classic, which begins March 15. Bradley to receive award for courage USC senior guard Jamel Bradley has been named winner of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s 2002 Most Courageous Award. The award is presented annually by the USB WA to a player, coach or official in college basketball who has over come adversity in life. Despite being legally deaf since he was 18 months old, Bradley has had an inspiring career at USC. He leads the Gamecocks in scoring this season, averaging 13.4 points per game. He was also named to the All-SEC third team by the confer ence’s coaches. Earlier this season, he became both the USC single-sea son and career leader in 3-point field goals made, and last week, he became the 34th player in USC his tory to score 1,000 points. Bradley will be presented with the award at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta on Monday, April 1, at the annual USBWA awards breakfast. Baseball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Marshall Hubbard. “He looked like he was really effective, then, all of the sudden, he got in some trouble,” Tanner said of Adler. “I think he pressed a little bit after they got some hits offhim.” Adler gave way to the bullpen with one out in the fourth inning, and USC’s relievers stifled the Tribe for the rest of the night. Three different Carolina pitch ers combined to pitch 5 2/3 score less innings, scatter four hits and strike out five. The effort was highlighted by three solid in nings from Chris Hernandez, who drew praise from Tanner. “That’s a promising thing for us,” he said of Hernandez’s im provement. “He’s mature, and we’re looking for him to do that for us along the way.” The William & Mary hullpen was equally strong against the Gamecocks (11-2). USC got the leadoff man on base in five of the first seven innings but could only produce one additional run. They finally broke through in the eighth olf a single by second base man Justin Harris. Landon Powell followed and scorched a William Bray pitch down the third base line, scoring Harris and tying the game. Blake Taylor held the Tribe at bay over the final 21/3 innings and set the stage for Dyson’s heroics. “I was ready to go all night... I was pretty loose,” Dyson said. “Coach Tanner put me in there, and, luckily, I got a hit.” The Columbia native with a penchant for clutch hits hopes that Wednesday night’s big hit is a harbinger of things to come. “You don’t use your money guy until you really have an opportunity to win it.” RAY TANNER DSC BASEBALL HEAD COACH, ON TREY DYSON “Hopefully, it will lead to big ger and better things in the fu ture,” Dyson said. It felt really good.” Taylor (2-0) earned the victo ry for USC and Bray (0-1) took the loss for William & Mary. The Gamecocks are back in ac tion this weekend at Sarge Frye Field'against Seton Hall. The teams will take the field tonight at 7 p.m. in the first of a three game series. Saturday’s contest is at 4 p.m., and Sunday’s finale is at 1:30 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksportsCa-hotma il. com Richardson CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Arkansas “buy out” his con tract. Harrison countered the ar gument in a letter Tuesday, saying, “These remarks were widely publicized and sup ported the decision which Chancellor White had reached on the previous evening after consultation with Coach Broyles and Dr. Sugg.” Walker also said the termi nation letter sent to Richardson by White did not present the reasons for which he was fired. He requested White to inform him whether the university’s decision to re lease Richardson was because of his desire for UA to buy out his contract or if there are no particular reasons for his ter mination. Harrison’s letter of re sponse to Walker said the uni versity is “not required to fur nish its reasons for exercising its rights under paragraph 12 of the Employment Agreement,” although he out lined the reasons for Richardson’s termination in the letter. Softball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 to score both runners. After Troesh scored on a throw to sec ond base, Samantha Jennings closed the inning’s scoring with a double to bring in Sandel. Spartans ace Amber Watson (7-2) couldn’t control the game with two outs in the fifth. Following two walks, Watson was pulled for Maureen Flynn, who walked Adrianna Baggetta toload the bases. Cornett then singled to score Sandel and Jennings. Finally, freshman catcher Tia Rogers took the ball deep for her first collegiate home run, ending the game. “[Watson] had us guessing and I thought we made the ad justments we needed to do to win,” Compton said. Stacey Johnson (4-2) allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out four. She got out of a critical jam in the fourth inning, holding a 4-1 lead while forcing two groundouts with runners in scoring position. “I’ve been struggling so far be cause of a back injury, but I think I pulled it together a little tonight. My team was behind me “I just go out there and give my best.You can’t get too ahead of yourself.” MEGAN MATTHEWS USC PITCHER and played good defense,” Stacey Johnson said. The Spartans dropped to 13-5-1 with the two losses and will try to get back on the winning track at the National Invitational Tournament in Pleasanton, Calif. The Lady Gamecocks start conference play this weekend with a three-game series at home against Arkansas (15-6). Saturday’s doubleheader starts Saturday at noon, followed by a single game Sunday at noon. The SEC is shaping up to be a tough conference so far, with Georgia (24-0) looking like the team to beat early on. “This is what we’ve been working for,” Compton said of conference play. “We’re three days away, and*I think that gets everyone juiced up and excited. But we know every time we step upon the field, it’s going to be a tough game.” Comments on this story?E-mail gameeocksports@hotmail.com lOPEN^RlDA^lARaHH^^lE^RE^VERYWHER^^l