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SEC News & Notes Bama forward takes weekly honor Crimson Tide forward Kennedy Winston was named SEC player of the week. Winston avetaged 25 points and five rebounds in wins against Mississippi State and Ole Miss last week. In scoring 26 points in a 68-56 win against Ole Miss on Saturday, Winston passed Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried to become No. 36 on the Crimson Tide’s all time scorers list. Winston was 8-for-ll shooting, including 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc. In Tuesday’s 98-49 rout of the Bulldogs, Winston poured in 26 points in what tied the worst loss for the Bulldogs in their school’s basketball history. The 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound junior is averaging 17.8 points and nearly six rebounds per game. The award was Winston’s second player of the week this season. i Kentucky to match up against Razorbacks The No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats will take on Arkansas in a televised contest. The Razorbacks 36-point margin of victory against Auburn last week was their largest since 1993. Sophomore guard Ronnie Brewer averaged 20 points, seven rebounds, 3.5 assist and 3i5 steals in two games last week. Arkansas dropped its game against LSU despite holding the Tigers to 36.7 percent shooting. The Razorbacks are 0-3 against ranked teams on the season, dropping games against Illinois, Alabama and Mississippi State. Kentucky will put its 14-game conference win streak to the test. The Wildcats have won 40 of their last 46 road games and are off to their best start since Tubby Smith’s first season in 1997-98. Smith’s team has not lost to an SEC West opponent since 2002 and has come back from two double-digit deficits to win on the road this season, against Louisville at Ole Miss. Owens not cleared for Super Bowl play By ROB MAADDI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHILADELPHIA — Terrell Owens’ doctor said Tuesday he will not give the All-Pro receiver clearance to play in the Super Bowl. Owens saw his doctor Tuesday, one day after telling reporters he would play against the New England Patriots on Feb. 6. Dr. Mark Myerson said he’s pleased with Owens’ recuperation, but maintains the surgery requires a recovery period of eight to 10 weeks. Myerson said in a statement Tuesday night that any attempt to accelerate the rehabilitation process poses the same risk for injury. Owens said he plans to be in uniform for the Eagles in Jacksonville, Fla. The Eagles’ doctors and training staff should have the final say on Owens’ status. “Spiritually I’ve been healed and I believe that I’ll be out there on that field Sunday, regardless of what anybody says,” Owens said Monday night, before going to Baltimore for his weekly checkup with Myerson. Owens was expected to test his injured ankle on the field this week and could try running as early as Wednesday. Myerson inserted two screws in Owens’ right ankle and a plate on the outside of the ankle three days after he was injured against Dallas on Dec. 19. By not clearing Owens to play, Myerson is absolved of any blame should Owens go against his wishes and then re-injure the ankle. Owens was told after surgery that he had only an outside chant^J of returning for the Super Bowl, which was 6 1/2 weeks away at the timfc He rehabbed vigorously and insistedihe is going to play. “You can’t deny the man the ball,” Owens said while sitting courtside at a 76ers game against Miarm on Monday. Quarterback Donovan MdNabb and other Eagles have said they-don’t need Owens to beat the defending champion Patriots, who are 7jpoint favorites. “We can win it without T.O. But, if he is there, we can win it with him and we are definitely going to try to win it without him,” McNabb said one day after leading the Eagles to a 27-10 victory over Atlanta in the ~NFC championship game. “I think he will be back. But, if he can’t be back, we have to continue this ship home.” The Eagles are 2-0 without Owens in games that matter. They lost the last two regular-season games in which most starters hardly played and Others were rested. While the offense hasn’t been dominant, they’ve scored 27 points in each of the playoff games. Though none of the players will admit it, it’s possible Owens’ return could be more of a distraction than a benefit, especially if he’s not able to play at 100 percent. “I am getting tired of that question,” wideout Greg Lewis said when asked if the Eagles proved they can win without Owens. “We won last week, we won the previous week, it doesn’t matter. T.O. is part of the team, but he’s not here right now. We’re trying to go on and not proving to anyone we can win without T.O. We’re trying to win the Super Bowl.” Owens was back on the sideline against the Falcons, only this time he served as head cheerleader, flapping his arms, waving a towel and encouraging the crowd to make more noise. He jogged onto the field and pumped up the crowd during pregame introductions, and jumped around on the bench during the game. Outleaping defenders and escaping tackles won’t be as easy. In his first season with the Eagles after eight years in San Francisco, Owens led Philadelphia with 77 catches for 1,200 yards and 14 TDs. ■ ODOM Continued from page 12 games. Your presence alone helps us play better. You bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the Colonial Center. Carlos Powell, Josh Gonner, Tarence Kinsey — to name just a few — play better when they feel the support of the students. I have always said at the root of every good basketball team is great student support. We are 9-1 this year at home, and that is a tribute to you. So tonight at 8 p.m., make sure you have on garnet and black and are there in the student section cheering your heart out for the Gamecocks. Have fun — that’s what being a fan is all about! Thanks again for all your support! DAVE ODOM use HEAD BASKETBALL COACH gg^ If you have any questions or comments about the Sports section, please e-mail Sports editor Jonathan Hillyard at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu. ■ RILEY Continued from page 12 to drive the Columbia Inferno out of their minds. His narrow-sightedness has forced the Inferno to remain in the Coliseum with hardly a chance of ever having their own place to play. Speaking of which, did you know that the Inferno tried to build their own place in conjunction with an Arena Football team? How cool would that have been? Arena Football, for those who don’t know, is basically what we all used to play back when we were kids — a pass-happy offense where players must play on both sides of the ball. Sounds good, right? Well, thanks to McGoo, Columbia never got a shot at playing host to an Arena team. But that’s not even the best one. How ‘bout them Panthers? The Panthers had a strong desire to play their first season in Columbia while their stadium was being finished in Charlotte. But good old McGoo made sure that didn’t happen, vetoing the idea like a shopping spree with a Democrat. His excuse — they didn’t want to sell beer on Sunday. Right. So, guess who got to play host to the Panthers’ inaugural season? You guessed it — Clemson. Now if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s to lose to Clemson — at anything. I hate Clemson like I hate being beaten in the head with a 2x4. So thanks Mike, for everything you gave us and wouldn’t allow us to have. ■ WOMEN Continued from page 12 conference games on the road. The Lady Vols are led by coach Pat Summitt, who has the most wins in the history of women’s basketball and is only 14 wins away from passing Dean Smith as the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. The Volunteers got off to an un Summitt like start this season with non conference losses to Texas, Duke and Rutgers, but have rebounded tp win six games in a row. Just like every other year, Tennessee is stacked with depth and lots of talent. The Lady Vols return their All-American forward Shyra Ely who leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Summitt said she plans on looking toward her three seniors for leadership on and off the court. “I’m beginning to sense that seniors Loree Moore and Shyra Ely are coming along like Butts and Robinson did last year as the strongest leaders on the team,” Summitt said after the win over Kentucky. The Gamecocks can also expea to see some new faces in orange uniforms during Thursday’s game. Tennessee has one of the most talented freshmen classes in the country. All six freshmen received All-American honors in High school, and three were National High School players of the year. Tennessee is coming off a 67-49 win against Kentucky last Sunday. The Lady Vols are extremely successful at shutting down the opposition’s offense in the first half. This year they have held four teams under 20 points in the first half. Last Sunday, the Lady Vols held Kentucky scoreless for nearly 12 minutes. Tennessee uses its height advantage over other teams to help dominate on defense. Four of the five probable Tennessee starters are above 6 feet. Carolina is one of the few teams in the conference that can match that height, with seven players standing at or taller than 6 feet. Tip-off for the latest installment of this division rivalry is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in the Colonial Center. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockspoits@givm.sc. edu Interested in taking The Gamecock Challenge? If you can beat the editors, you'll win a free Gamecock T-shirt. Send your picks to gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu by 2 p.m. Thursday. We’ll select ONE person’s picks, at random, to be our Reader of the Week. This week's games: 24 Mississippi State at LSU 7 Kentucky at Arkansas Ole Miss at Vanderbilt Tennessee at Auburn Georgia at 14 Alabama 3 UNC at Virginia 4 Syracuse at 20 Pittsburgh 16 Texas at 6 Kansas N.C. State at Clemson USC at Florida ♦ FOR TIE-BREAKING PURPOSES, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SCORE FOR THE USC FLORIDA GAME. AND DON’T FORGET YOUR NAME!