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T^k /A I m Oi GAME SCHEDULE Wg I V ' I I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at Tennessee, 7 p.m. Thursday Pap-e 14 I— II K I i MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING at SEC Championships, WTA A 17 u U 1AAC 11/ I V J Thursday through Saturday Wednesday, February 16,2005 V_>/ _ _|_ f\^y BASEBALL vs. Radford, 3 p.m. Friday ====^^=^==_^====== use 73, KENTUCKY 61 Taming the beasts NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Junior guard Tarence Kinsey drives past a Kentucky defender during the Gamecocks’ 73-61 win over the No. 3 Wildcats on Tuesday night. Kinsey had 17 points and five 3- pointers in the win. ■ KENTUCKY Continued from page 1 With a packed house backing them and a national audience looking on, the Gamecocks took it to the No.3 Kentucky Wildcats 73-61 in a Super Tuesday Showdown. Both teams started the game cold, and it took two minutes before either team scored. Powell gave USC an early 2-0 lead. Carolina held the lead until back-to-back Kelenna Azubuike layups gave the ‘Cats their largest lead of the night at three with a score of 6-9 with 13:15 left in the first. That’s when Antoine Tisby took control. After not making the trip to Florida, the junior college transfer had seen uu gainc-uiuc acnuu smcc laic January. Tisby responded to Kentucky’s lead by putting in back-to-b^ck layups of his own against a much taller Shagari Alley ne. Tisby not only took his game to Alleyne’s height advantage, but Chuck Hayes’ All-American stature. Tisby, along with USC’s other post players, held Hayes to just one point on 0-of-5 shooting. USC lost its lead twice in the first half and found itself trailing 22-23 with time winding down. With 17 It’s a great win. Hopefully it’s a jump start for all of us.” ANTOINE TISBY use BASKETBALL PLAYER seconds left, Tarence Kinsey gave .USC a lead it would relinquish only once, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Gamecocks up 25-23. The Wildcats tied things up with an ally-hoop dunk by Rajon Rondo after just 10 seconds of play in the second period. That’s as good as it got for Tubby Smith’s team. Tisby hit another layup with 14:55 left to give USC its first double-digit lead of the game at 36-26. The Cats kept it close, until a Kinsey miss was rebounded and slammed home by Tisby to put Carolina up 12. Kentucky managed to pull the game within five at 50 45 with 6:52 left, only to see Carolina go on an 8-0 run, rebuilding its lead to 13. Carolina held a double-figures lead the last 4:42 ui me Lumesi, icing me game uy going 10-of-l4 from the free-throw line from that point on. The topper came on the final inbounds play of the game for USC, as Powell found Josh Gonner running up the floor for the fast-break jam, sealing the win with 21 seconds left. After losing to some of the nation’s top teams by close margins, USC coach Dave Odom’s team found a way to close out the game. ♦ Please see KENTUCKY, page 15 KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore forward Brandon Wallace goes underneath the basket and lays the ball in Tuesday. USC had 40 points in the paint. Game had aura of a major upset ■ Pregame, gameplay, celebration lead to memorable night It just had that feeling. The feeling all sports fans have felt at one point or another. It had all the signs. Whether it was the Texas Tech student section storming their home floor the night before on ESPN, or seniors Josh Gonner and Carlos Powell and junior Tarence Kinsey out-perfecting their jump shots two hours before JONATHAN ££„£ HILLYARD there It felt like an upset was SECOND-YEAR , . ELECTRONIC brewing. JOURNALISM As I sat STUDENT courtside at about 7:20 p.m., there was something different. Once again, as any sports fan will tell you, it was just that feeling. It was everything you could possibly ask of storyline and a basketball game. Even in pre-game warm-ups, Kentucky looked like royalty in its shiny blue warm-up shirts while the USC warmup turned into an all-out, crowd-pleasing dunk contest led by Conner, Powell, junior Rocky Trice and sophomore Brandon Wallace. The game had the feeling from the start. Signs of life from Antoine Tisby, who has not played more than five minutes in weeks, and John Chappell, who smiled widely at a sign reading “Our faith lies in Chappell," just gave the extra nudge of “Uh oh, keep an eye on this one." Then the most proverbial sign of the night reared its face. With USC hanging with the Wildcats early, none other than an absolute winner appeared on the big screen. Steve Spurrier, with the smile only a winner could have, was the tell-all sign that Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005, was going to be a good night to be a Gamecock. I wasn’t the only one who had “the feeling." Carlos Powell had the feeling. ♦ Please see HILLYARD, page 14 Women’s hoops looks to take first SEC win By MATTHEW NAGY THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team is set to take on Tennessee for the second time of this SEC season Thursday night. The Lady Vols come into the contest ranked No. 5 in the nation after beating Vanderbilt 72-63 last Sunday afternoon. Carolina is looking for its first SEC win after what has been a second straight disappointing year. USC was able to manage only 36 points last Sunday against No. 1 LSU, and the Gamecocks will look to improve on that mark if they are going to have a shot at beating a team that it has historically stru $gled against. The Gamecocks have never defeated the Lady Vols in Knoxville -irM hiw rk.m re in 30 meetings. This season’s 0-10 mark in SEC play only compounds what have been several disappointing seasons for USC coach Susan Walvius and company. Carolina has lost 16 straight SEC contests and 15 straight to ranked opponents. After two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2002, USC has faltered, winning only one SEC game in the past season and a half, while managing to win only 16 of its last 35 contests dating to the beginning of last year. The Gamecocks also have had to deal with the loss of starting point guard Lea Fabbri, who was tending to her ill father in Croatia. Fabbri has returned to the lineup after flying back from Croatia on Monday -okhl-F.ihhri looked mud in nnaice Tuesday. Her strong play and quarterbacking skills will be needed, as the Gamecocks have the odds stacked against them. Lauren Simms is USC’s only player averaging more than 10 points per game this season, with 12.7. Tennessee, by contrast, enters the contest with only four losses this season. While that is considered a down year for the Lady Vols, they still have an excellent chance at making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. An earlier loss to LSU, however, will make it tough to win their seventh consecutive SEC regular season title. Tennessee has won eight of the last 10 SEC Championships and 12 of the 24 total SEC The Gamecocks have shown some Tenacity in recent outings despite the close losses to LSU and Tennessee earlier in the season. The Lady Vols were able to sneak out of Columbia with a 68-53 victory Jan. 27. At halftime, USC only trailed 27-24, but the Gamecocks were unable to hold on for the whole game. Carolina was able to gain a one-point lead three minutes into the second half before UT was able to put the Gamecocks away with a 27-5 run during the next eight minutes. The Gamecocks will look to continue their tough defense play through both halves Thursday in Knoxville, as was the case with the previous game and last Sunday’s LSU matchup. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on CSS. t . Comments on this story? E-mail _gamecocksports®giV7n.sc. edu K.YLE PARKER/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore guard Stacy Booker sets up the USC offense. Carolina will travel to Tennessee on Thursday.