Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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„ _ GAME SCHEDULE Fage y MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Vanderbilt, 8 p.m. Wednesday Monday, January 24, 2005 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Thursday S Gamecocks’ initial lead fizzles again By ALEX RILEY STAFF WRITER The men’s basketball squad is still searching for answers on the road. After suffering heartbreaking losses to some of the country’s premier programs on their home courts, USC (10-6, 2-3 SEC) found itself on the short end of the stick again Saturday, suffering a 73-65 loss to the No. 17 Mississippi State Bulldogs (16-4, 4-2 SEC). USC managed a great start, forcing six ties and four lead changes in the first half. Carolina went into the locker room tied at 31 with the home-standing Bulldogs. Things seemed like they might go the Gamecocks’ way in the second half, as All-American Lawrence Roberts picked up his fourth foul with more than 10 minutes in the game. But the Bulldogs showed no signs of a lost star, as they ignited a 15-5 run that started with a missed shot that was rebounded for a 3-pointer, giving State a 49-45 lead. I thought we could take advantage of his absence,” USC coach Dave Odom said. “In truth, what happened was Mississippi State tightened the reins and made almost no mistakes.” That run sealed the Gamecocks’ fate, as USC hit only two field goals during the stretch with Roberts on the bench. One of those field goals was a Tarence Kinsey 3 that pulled Carolina back within 1 at 49-48. From there, the Bulldogs ran and ran hard, pushing their lead to 60-50. A Tre’ Kelley 3 pulled USC within 6 at 60-54, the closest it would get. Even though the team managed to keep the lead at or less than 10, the Bulldogs wouldn’t be denied, sealing the win by running the floor for easy layups late in the game. State’s final basket cost Carolina a major star, as Carlos Powell tried to swat the shot away with 17.3 seconds left, only to go head first into the goal’s base and the sidelines. Powell remained motionless on the floor and finally had to be helped up by the trainers and escorted back to the bench. Powell, who finished the game with 18 points, said he expects to be ready for Wednesday's matchup with Vanderbilt. Odom switched his starting lineup again Saturday, this time resorting to the “Those guys stepped up in (Lawrence Roberts’) absence on the offensive boards. That’s what killed us, those second shots.” TRE’ KELLEY use BASKETBALL PLAYER team that began the season as the starting five — Powell, Kelley, Kinsey, Josh Gonner and Brandon Wallace. Gonner and Wallace have been coming off the bench with impressive performances in the past month. Both Gonner and Wallace got their starting roles back, and neither performed to the best of his ability. Gonner had no points, while Wallace had four and only one rebound. Kelley’s re-emergence was the best story of the night, as he put in a new career-high 22 points after netting only two points against Tennessee last weekend. Rebounding was the Gamecocks’ Achilles heel, as USC was out rebounded 40-25, with State taking a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass. “Those guys stepped up in (Roberts') absence on the offensive boards," Kelley said. “That’s what killed us, those second shots." Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu ROGELIO SOLIS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mississippi State forward Lawrence Roberts, left, shoots over USC center John Chappell in the first half in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday. The Gamecocks have yet to win a road game this season. Recruiting class starts to materialize By MATTHEW NAGY THE GAMECOCK USC’s new coaching staff continues to hit the recruiting trail hard and is continuing to add depth and talent to the squad for next year. Carolina has 24 commitments, mostly at skill positions. This week Spurrier and company were able to add three more commitments with the possibility of more to come as signing day approaches. In what is proving to be one of the Gamecocks’ biggest question marks this season, the new staff has added another quarterback to the mix. Previously committed to North Carolina, Cade Thompson said goodbye to Tobacco Road to have the chance to play under Spurrier, a former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida. Thompson, who has the frame to be a prototypical pocket passer, will come to USC after a senior season in which he led his team to 35 consecutive victories. The Tennessee native threw for 35 touchdowns while only turning the ball over to the opposition four times. Thompson figures to throw his hat into a quarterback position that is largely up in the air. Senior Mike Rathe is lobbying the NCAA for another year of eligibility, while the status of Syvelle Newton is all but certain. With only Blake Mitchell, Brett Nichols and red shirted freshman Antonio Heffner on the roster, Thompson, along with fellow committment Tommy Beecher, will have the ability to make a push for a possible starting job right away. The new staff is also working hard at Texas Tech commitment Chris Todd. The quarterback from Kentucky is a soft commitment to the Red Raiders but still plans to visit and talk with Spurrier before signing day to gauge his interest in USC. Carolina has also made a move this recruiting season to solidify another question-mark position, but this time it was the old staff, not the new. Outgoing coach Lou Holtz was able to bring in Ryan Succop, one of the best kickers in the nation in high school. Succop will have a chance to compete for the placekicking job with incumbent Josh Brown. The defense has not been forgotten in this offensive frfenzy. The Gamecock secondary, already one of the best in the nation, has added several new recruits to solidify the squad. The staff has brought in two junior college transfers at the safety position to compete with freshman All-American Ko Simpson and Chris Hampton. Originally a Blackville native, Brandon Isaac spent two years playing for the Georgia Military Academy. With a 6-feet-2-inch frame and excellent coverage skills, Isaac has the potential to replace Jamacia Jackson at the strong safety position or move to an outside linebacker role similar to the “Apache” position occupied by Rodriques Wilson last season. Most importantly, Isaac is a December graduate who will be able to enroll for the spring semester and be eligible for spring practice, giving him a significant leg up in the learning process. The staff has taken a different approach to recruiting compared to Holtz’s staff this season, as Spurrier has focused heavily on recruiting out-of-state players to fill his positions. Spurrier has brought in six players from the state of Florida, as well as several from Georgia. Since Spurrier took over the job in late November, only two recruits from the state of South Carolina have committed. USC is in the race for some of the state’s best prospects, as running back Mike Davis, defensive end Hivera Green and tight end Jonathan Hannah are still considering Carolina for their future. While the approach might be different from previous years, the quality of the class is still above par. In the past two weeks the Gamecocks have moved from the mid-40s in the Scout.com recruiting rankings all the way to No. 24. While USC has not secured a top 100 prospect, Carolina has put together a wide array of talented players from all over the Southeast and figures to possibly move into the national top-15 as signing day approaches. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu NICK ESCARES/THE GAMECOCK S($homore forward Metenie Johnson battled defenders in an SEC game earlier thi&eason. Carolina fell to the Arkansas Lady'Backs on Sunday, leaving USC winless in conference play this year. Turnovers plague USC at Arkansas By BRIAN DAVIS THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team suffered its sixth loss in seven games in a 49-61 loss to the Lady’Backs in Fayetteville on Sunday. The Gamecocks (6-13, 0-5 SEC) shot a measly 31 percent from the field and were led in scoring by freshmen center Ilona Burgrova who was 6-of-7 from the field, tallying 14 points in 31 minutes. The Lady’Backs forced 22 Gamecock turnovers in the game, nine of which were attributed to the USC backcourt. Arkansas would capitalize on the opportunities presented to them by USC, scoring 20 points off 22 turnovers. “We were at a size disadvantage but our guards pressured the perimeter well and forced some bad shots,” Arkansas guard their post players, we put more pressure on the guards and prevented the pass to the interior.” USC’s Stacy Booker, Lea Fabbri and Lauren Simms were also contained offensively. Booker and Simms were kept to 12 total points in the game coming off 16- and 21-point performances in a loss to Alabama on Thursday. Booker, the sophomore from Georgia, pulled in a career-high 13 rebounds and tied her career high with four assists. Arkansas handled the Gamecocks despite playing shorthanded without its top two players in Ruby Vaden and Kristin Moore. Picking up the slack for Arkansas was junior guard Kristen Peoples, who scored 12 points. In this seven-game stretch, the Gamecock offense has been restrained to shooting just more than 36 percent from the field. In addition, the Gamecocks have forfeited the ball often, with just more than 22 turnovers per game, a A ♦ Please see WOMEN, page 10 Erratic play puzzles fans, road troubles hinder team ■ Inconsistency plagues men’s basketball squad in slow SEC beginning It’s a puzzling situation. It is almost baffling at times. The USC basketball team looks like an SEC championship contender sometimes and then looks like a cellar-dweller at others. One almost wonders if he is watching the same team from game to game. The season began with an almost □ “blah” feeling. The team looked as if it didn’t quite have it all together yet and that it was going to struggle through tough non-conference road tests at JONATHAN Kansas and HILLYARD Pittsburgh Cue up a SECOND-YEAR heartbreaking ELECTRONIC , 6 JOURNALISM home loss to STUDENT Clemson that really hinted blowout for USCs trip to Lawrence, Kan. Or did it? The Gamecocks proved they could play with the best going toe to-toe with the Jayhawks before losing by four points. So the team is going to be a huge contender, right? Well, not so fast. After a nail-biter against East Carolina and an overtime victory over South Carolina State, USC fans are wondering if the team they saw in Lawrence was just an aberration from a very mediocre SEC squad. A trip to play top-15 Pittsburgh would certainly dear up all the nonsense, wouldn’t it? As another second-half lead disappeared and a 4-point loss ensued, the USC family collectively again scratched its head. Then the same thing happened at Kentucky. The Gamecocks, with a 6-point halftime lead, had all of South Carolina on its heels again, only to lose again by, you guessed it, four points. The squad has literally alternated wins and losses through its first five games of the SEC schedule. This Gamecock team, 16 games into the 2004-2005 season, has yet to win a road game. So add the latest debacle in Starkville to the roller-coaster ride that has been the Carolina basketball season. It is obvious that USC is going to have to win a road game in order to achieve its goals, but after unexpectedly losing games to Clemson and LSU, the Gamecocks have turned home games into must-wins. Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas and other home games now become musts for an inconsistent Carolina team. An upset at Florida or Alabama would also not hurt. So why has this team looked so great at certain points and so lost at others? It could be the lack of a consistent number-two scorer. Senior forward Carlos Powell has led the team in scoring in half of its 16 games. After that junior guard Tarence Kinsey and sophomore guard Tre’ Kelley have led the team in scoring three times each. Senior guard Josh Gonner and sophomore forward Renaldo Balkman have each led the team in scoring once. Kelley has showed signs of greatness, but is still far too inconsistent for the likes of coach Dave Odom. In the past five games for USC, Kelley has scored 19, 11, 11,2 and 22 points. Ironically, in games where Kelley scores neai the 20 mark, Carolina has fallen, losing to Kentucky when he scored 19, Mississippi State when he scored 22 and Clemson when he scored 22. However, scoring 2 points against Tennessee led Kelley and USC to a key SEC win. Gonner’s up-and-down season could be a source of disappointment for USC. After shooting near the top of the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage a year ago, Gonner is shooting only 34 percent from behind the arc this season. Who leads USC in 3-point field goal percentage? Try Balkman, shooting 44 percent from downtown. Inconsistency in the starting lineup could be stunting the Gamecocks’ growth. A number of starting lineups have been tried, each one ultimately leading to bench players outplaying the team’s starters. Powell is the one constant for the Gamecocks. Averaging 15.5 points per game, he has established himself as an All-SEC caliber player. So after that whirlwind of contradictions and idiosyncrasies, only one question remains: What Carolina team are we going to sec