The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 26, 2005, Page 13, Image 13
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.
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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
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