University of South Carolina Libraries
GAME SCHEDULE BASEBALL at The Citadel, 7 p.m. p e j 3 MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. St. Joseph’s •.it i i „ _ __ _ in NIT Championship, 7 p.m. Thursday Wednesday, March 30, 2005 MEN’S TENNIS vs. Tennessee, 2 p.m. Friday NIT SEMIFINALS USC 75, MARYLAND 67 ED BETZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS USC’s Carlos Powell shoots around Maryland’s Travis Garrison during the second half of the NIT at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Powell Play ■ Basketball advances to tournament's final game By JONATHAN HILLYARD “PORTS EDITOR USC’s run to a championship continued Tuesday, as the Gamecocks defeated the Maryland Terrapins 75-67 to advance to tleir second NIT final in four years. With the victory, USC (19-13) improved to 2-0 in the NIT against ACC foes, as the Gamecocks defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the first round of the tournament. The first half began with Maryland pretty much in control, taking a 14-9 lead early in the game. Upperclassmen took over for the Gamecocks, though, and USC went on a 16-4 run midway through the first half to pull ahead of Maryland, building a lead they would never relinquish. Seniors Carlos Powell and Josh Gonner and junior Antoine Tisby led the way for USC in the'first half, scoring 24 of the Gamecocks’ 41 points in the first 20 minutes. Gonner provided a scoring spark with 11 points off the bench. Tisby added 7, and Powell notched 6 in the first period. The scoring was balanced for the Gamecocks though, as eight players scored in the first half. The Gamecock defense was critical early on, as USC held Maryland to just l-for-8 from the 3-point line in the first half to take a 12-point, 41-29 lead into the break. Junior guard Chris McCray led the way for the Terrapins early, leading Maryland with 11 points at halftime. Terrapin leading scorer, ♦ Please see RECAP, page 14 ED BETZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saint Joseph's Pat Carroll, right, shoots around Memphis’ Anthony Rice on Tuesday. ■ St. Joes defeats Memphis, will face USC on Thursday By STEPHEN FASTENAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR At least the Gamecocks won’t have to play Memphis. Saint Joseph’s defeated Memphis in the semifinals of the NIT Tuesday night, ensuring that USC will not have to face a team that has tormented the Gamecocks in the past. The Tigers topped USC 72-62 the last time the Gamecocks reached the NIT final in 2002. Last season, it was Memphis that knocked USC out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round. After going 20-11 during the regular season, the Hawks were surprised to find themselves left out of the NCAA Tournament and have played in the NIT as if they have something to prove. Saint Joe’s has raced through the postseason tournament by playing gritty defense. None of the Hawks’ four opponents have reached more than 60 points, and one team, Hofstra, scored just 44. Coach Phil Martelli’s team has duplicated the defensive success they had during the regular season, holding opponents to just 58.6 points per game. On the offensive end, Carroll leads the team with 18.2 points per game. Junior center Dwayne Jones averages 10 points and 11 rebounds per contest and was the Atlantic 10’s leading shot blocker for the ♦ Please see PREVIEW, page 14 Commercials ride tournament’s coattails Since it’s March Madness and I am addicted to all that is college sports, I have been glued to the TV for hours at a time for basically the last few weeks straight. I have learned a lot. I have learned that if I lie on my left side for long enough, my left foot will go numb and start to twitch. I have learned that having a remote control with dead batteries is even worse than not having a remote control at all. I have learned that if Raymond Felton was any more bowlegged, he could go No. 2 without sitting down. And most of all, 1 have learned that you can’t watch seven hours of television without seeing three hours of commercials. First of all, 1 know it was a few years ago, but did Flootie & the Blowfish make that many bad investments? Darius Rucker is now dressing up like a member of a mariachi band and singing about sandwiches on a Burger King commercial. Darius, you used to bf the man. Don’t you /remember Hold My Hand”? Have you already forgotten “Let Her Cry’? If I see you singing about chicken sandwiches “^7. H one more time, i am going to lose faith in mankind forever. Don’t do that to me, D, don’t do that to me. Another commercial I saw way too many times was the NCAA commercial JAKE BROOM SECOND-YEAR POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT wnicn snows people playing sports and talking about them and then shows them at their “real job” after they graduate. It ends with a narrator talking about how many NCAA athletes turn pro in something other than sports. This reminds me — Clemson recently released its official NCAA team GPAs, sjnd the men’s basketball team had a stellar 1.86 average. I think Clemson should put out its own version of this commercial showing former basketball players. “Not all Clemson athletes turn pro in their sports. Some spend the rest of their lives shooting dice behind the YMCA with Ashy Larry and Tron.” Chris Farley dying young was the worst thing that ever happened to David Spade. The man who was once spitting out classic lines like “I can’t hear you, you’re trailing off, and did I catch a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie-talkie?” is now doing horrible commercials for Capital One. What I don’t understand is this: If the man was once a comedian, why can’t they at least make the commercials funny? “He shoots ... nothing but NO!” I’m not even 100 percent sure what Capital One is, but I’m assuming it’s evil. Another commercial that got semi-annoying was the American Express commercial with Coach K. Basically, he just talked about what he believes a great leader should be and how that relates to his profession. I see Coach K, and I see American Express, and I am confused. I still don’t really understand what the two things have in common, but I don’t see the big deal. All the North Carolina fans are freaking out, saying that this is an unfair recruiting tool and that this shouldn’t be allowed. Well my theory is that if the kid decides he wants to go to Duke because of an American Express commercial, chances are he can’t get in to Duke in the first place. Maybe Coach K’s three national championships and 12 National Coach of the Year awards might have a litde something to do with it. Just a hunch. Well, there goes my word limit, and I didn’t even get to wonder if I suffer from “taste loss,” or if women really are like McGriddles. There are only so many hours of basketball left, which means there are only so many hours of commercials left. And only so many more brain cells left to die because of them. use football returns to field By MICHAEL FINNEGAN FOR THE GAMECOCK The Carolina football team was in full force Tuesday after four days of rest because of Easter weekend and the bad weather that cancelled Monday’s practice. Tuesday’s practice marked the one-third point, as this was the fifth of 15 spring practices, the 15th being the Garnet vs. Black Spring Game. OFFENSE Going into Tuesday’s practice, junior walk-on Brett Nichols was listed as the No. 1 quarterback. On the 11-11 drill at third-and-10, Nichols was at the helm for 13-of 23 snaps. Nichols showed poise in hookups with juniors Syvelle Newton and Noah Whiteside and freshman Sidney Rice. Sophomore Blake Mitchell and freshman Antonio Heffner split the rest of the snaps. On the other 11-11 drill, fourth-and-15, Heffner took seven of the snaps, with Mitchell taking the other five. Mike Rathe took limited snaps and is still waiting for a ruling on his sixth year of eligibility. “Brett was first today,” coach Steve Spurrier said. “Antonio Heffner did some good things today.” He said the No. 1 quarterback could change day to day depending on the film. “Noah and Syvelle are lining up first,” Spurrier said about the wide receivers. Continuing to put pressure on Whiteside and Newton have been Rice and sophomore Travis Lee. Rice made a leaping catch in the third-and-10 drills. “Just looking over there, to see how Brent is going, it gives me the idea and the thought in my head,” Newton said about switching to receiver. Newton showed he still remembers how to play wide receiver with tight routes and catches in practice. ♦ Please see SPRING, page 14 KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Freshman pitcher Wynn Pelzer struggled early on against Brown on Tuesday, but the USC bats thrived late and pulled out a 7-2 victory. baseball rallies late to pull past Brown By JASON SCHNEIDER FOR THE GAMECOCK Coming into Tuesday, it was no secret the USC baseball team needed a pick-me-up. After dropping last weekend’s three-game series against Florida, 2-1, the Gamecocks were left with a 2-4 SEC record. The necessary spirit-lifter came Tuesday night, as the Gamecocks defeated a 4-9 Brown squad, 7-2. It did not initially appear the Gamecocks would be leaving Sarge Frye field on a pleasant note, as Brown started off hot. Gamecock freshman Wynn Pelzer looked shaky during his stay on the mound, and Brown was able to capitalize. In the first Inning, Brown senior Bobby Wiginton had a base hit to left, followed by another to right from senior Matt Kuder, advancing Wiginton to third. Pelzer proceeded to walk sophomore Eric Larson, loading the bases for Brown’s leader in RBIs, junior Danny Hughes. As he did on 44 occasions last season, Hughes recorded an RBI and the game’s first run. Pelzer was then able to settle down, fanning the next two Bears to get out of a bases-juiced jam. In the Gamecocks’ half of the first, the first three batters looked like statues, as juniors Chris Brown and Steven Tolleson went down looking. The meat of that stare sandwich was a routine 4-3 ground out by junior Michael Campbell. In the second inning, it appeared that Pelzer had settled down for good, retiring three batters in succession. The Gamecocks then threatened in the bottom half but could not cash in, as they left two runners stranded on the base path. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, the top of the third was very much like the top of the first, as Wiginton hit a double then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kutler then knocked him in on another single to right. Pelzer then fanned Hughes and created a statue of his own, retiring junior Paul Christian on a backwards “K.” Pelzer gave up a single to senior James Lowe, loading the bases once again. After a somewhat sporadic performance, sophomore Jeff Jeffords relieved Pelzer on the mound. Jeffords appeared unhittable to the Bears, allowing only one hit during his five-inning tenure on the mound. The Gamecocks’ offense was just as stagnant as Brown’s until the sixth inning. The bats finally started springing to life as senior Steve Pearce {rounded out a one run round-tripper to left. USC then tied the game in the seventh, as sophomore Ryan Mahoney reached home on a sacrifice fly from Brown. The Gamecocks failed to take the lead, though, leaving two runners on base. Jeffords struck out the first two batters he faced in the top of the eighth, but was then replaced by junior Brent Marsh. Marsh walked Christian and, after a Tolleson error at short, Christian was able to get into scoring position. But the threat was quickly quelled, as Marsh was able to force a dribbler from sophomore Bryan Tews. The Gamecocks faced the challenge of a tie in the bottom of the eighth, and they rose to it without wavering. The Gamecocks started the scoring early and continued it often in the inning. By the time the dust had settled, USC had scurried to five runs on five hits, and Brown could not catch up in the ninth. Marsh recorded his first win of the season for the Gamecocks, as junior James Cramphin picked up the loss for the Bears. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu