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3 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, March 22, 2002 GAME SCHEDULE "111 'V \ | "X W I ^ C N BASEBALL vs. Florida, 7 p.m. Friday ■ mi II IfllWl WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Drake in Raleigh, N.C. (NCAA), CONTACT US I-J I I ' I 1 11:30 a.m. Saturday I I I I \ I 1 SOFTBALL at LSU, 2 p.m. Saturday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? | \ ^ll | k I BASEBALL vs. Florida, 4 p.m. Saturday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com ■ FVy MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Syracuse, Tuesday NIT QUARTERFINALS TICKET TO NEW YORK GAMECOCKS WIN OVER BALL STATE SETS UP GAME WITH SYRACUSE Ball St. 47 ~£| USC 82 BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s basketball team had the opportunity last night to play in the NIT quarterfinals for only the third time in its history. The Gamecocks lost the first two times, but the third time was the charm against Ball State. Carolina took no time in gain ing control of the game and boast ed a 48-12 halftime lead before holding on to win 82-47 and ad vance to the tournament semifi nals in New York City. The Gamecocks (21-14) have now won four of their past five games. After the game, USC head coach Dave Odom credited his team’s ef fort all season with the way they played. We beat an excellent basket ball team tonight,” Odom said. “The difference [in the past five games] is in performance, not ef fort. All year, our team has been consistent in effort.” Rolando Howell’s layup 14 sec onds into the game started an of fensive onslaught for the Gamecocks. USC went up 7-0 be fore Lonnie Jones hit a jump shot to put the Cardinals on the board 7-2. The Gamecocks then went on a 41-10 run that put the game beyond reach for Ball State. The 12-point total in the first half was the Cardinals’ lowest in a half all season, and it was the lowest total the Gamecocks have held an opponent to all season. Carolina shot 51 percent in the first half, while Ball State shot a dismal 18.5 percent. The Cardinals saw a little more success in the second half, outscor ing USC 35-34, but it was too late. With about five minutes to go in the game, fans started a “We want [John] Chappell” chant right before Odom sent him and the rest of the squad that hadn’t played onto the court. The Gamecocks had five players score in double digits for the sec ond straight game. Jamel Bradley had 17, Chuck Eidson and Carlos Highlights ♦The 36-point halftime lead (48-12) was the largest of the season for USC. ♦USC’s defense held Ball State to their lowest first-half output total of the season. ♦Carolina had five players in double figures for the second consecutive game. (Eidson, Kitchings, Bradley, Petravicius, Powell) ♦A total of 20,355 fans packed the Frank McGuire Arena for USC’s two NIT home victories. ♦The Gamecocks shot a season-high 94.4 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 17 of 18 shots. Upcoming NIT Action Friday, March 22 Villanova (19-12) atTemple (17-14), 7 p.m. Saturday, March 23 Tennessee Tech (27-6) at Memphis (24-9), 2 p.m. Powell each had 15, Marius Petravicius scored 10 and Tony Kitchings tallied 12. Kitchings also nabbed eight rebounds in the game. The Cardinals had two players score in double digits. Forward Theron Smith scored 12, while Patrick Jackson picked up 11. USC scored 24 of its points off 22 Ball State turnovers, and 27 of Carolina’s points came from the bench. With the win, USC is now 9-7 all time in the NIT. The Gamecocks will face Syracuse on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden. Senior guard Aaron Lucas re joiced in the win but was already looking ahead. “We still understand what’s ahead,” Lucas said. “We’re not go ing to get complacent as far as this , one night is concerned. “But, at the same time, we had an other opportunity to show the fans we could play well... and send this historical arena out on a good note.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com -V PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN Carlos Powell helps cut down the net after the Gamecocks defeated Ball State to make it to the NIT semifinals. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM J Aaron Lucas had eight assists for USC. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM Above: Jamel Bradley celebrates the Gamecocks’ blowout of Ball State in the NIT quarterfinals Thursday night. Bradley was one of five USC players who scored in double digits for the second consecutive game. Right: USC men’s basketball head coach Dave Odom addresses fans after the game. Odom has brought the P* Gamecocks to the NIT semifinals In his first season at the helm. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM ’ll i PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN Cocky towels himself off after working the crowd during a timeout. The mascot is currently starring in a commercial on CBS for Anheuser-Busch. Winner Commercial puts Cocky in the Final Four BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s and women’s basketball players have been playing their hearts drinking and driving. Cocky shot the commercial in Los Angeles earlier this year and thought that the use of mascots would be an effective tool to reach college students. Cocky stars alongside other mascots such as the Maryland Terrapin, the Michigan State Spartan, the Penn State Nittany Lion and even the Clemson Tiger. uui, trying iu au- „v . .. . i ne DC vance to the YOU Want It tO Winner” commer championship of happen SO bad, cial is not Cocky’s their respective and everything first foray into the tournaments. But , „ . acting world, one Gamecock al- W3S SO ClOSe. But The jovial ready has his it W3S Still 0-11.” Gamecock was ticket punched all featured in an the way to the ““VL™ ESPN Final Four. SportsCenter spot Cockv is star- in 1997. co-star ring in a nationwide television commercial as part of Anheuser-Busch’s “Be A Winner” program. The spot airs throughout the NCAA Tournament on CBS and tries to promote responsibility to student drinkers over 21. Cocky said he was proud to associate himself with the brewer to encourage safe cele brating and ward against ring with, among others, Roger Clemens, Evander Holyfield and then-Senator Bill Bradley. The commercial ended on a sour note for the mascot, how ever, after he was run over by New England Patriots quar terback Drew Bledsoe. The commercial can still be viewed on www.espn.com. ♦ COCKY, SEE PAGE 9 BASEBALL No. 4 Gamecocks smash Wofford i M W Wofford 6 0 USC 15 BY JAMES STARNES THE GAMECOCK All-American candidate Drew Meyer led the USC baseball team to a 15-6 drubbing of the Wofford Terriers on Wednesday night at Sarge Frye Field. Meyer reached base and scored on four of his five plate appear ances, stole three bases and drove in a run as No. 4 USC improved to 19-3 on the season. Freshman southpaw Matt Campbell, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out five, reg istered his first win of the season for the Gamecocks. Carolina struck quickly by scoring four runs in the first inning, including a two-run home run by junior third baseman Brian Buscher. The Gamecocks added two runs in the second and one run in the third, and by the end of the fifth, the score was 11-0. Trey Dyson led off the fifth with a monster home run clearing the Palmetto trees just left of center field and sailing into the night. Through six innings, Wofford (15-9) did net have a base hit de spite having the bases loaded in both the first and sixth innings. Terriers right fielder Travis Wilson finally got Wofford’s first hit when he led off the top of the seventh with a single. Six Wofford players went on to reach base in the inning, and third baseman Matt Lein capped off the big in ning with a three-run homer to make the score 11-4. Wofford was able to add two more runs in the eighth and threatened to make a comeback. That notion was quickly forgotten, however, as USC added four more runs in its half of the inning to make the score 15-6. With one out, two men on, and the Terriers looking to make it a little too interesting in the eighth, USC head coach Ray Tanner brought in junior Chris Spigner. Spigner walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but then he struck out the next two to ex tinguish the threat. Spigner then pitched a perfect ninth and struck out two more batters. Every player that started for Carolina got at least one hit, as ♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 9