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THK&AMECOCK SPfTtTS Monday, Jan. 9,2006 1 1 ivy Page 15 Bowled over Katie Kirkland,i THE GAMECOCK Missouri quarterback Brad Smith is pulled down by USC cornerback Fred Bennett during the Tigers’ 38-31 win in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 30. Smith finished with 431 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns. Individual performances - not enough to give USC win - against Missouri on the Bayou (Ilex Riley and Stephen Fastenau THE GAMECOCK Shreveport, La. — Steve Spurrierfinishedhisinaugural season as USC’s coach with a 38-31 loss to Missouri in the Independence Bowl. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and led 28-7 before being outscored 24-3 in the second half. Tigers quarterback Brad Smith rolled up 431 yards of total offense, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for another. The Gamecocks’ final drive was quelled when quarterback Blake Mitchell’s pass was intercepted on the Tigers’ 46-yard line with 1:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. On a positive note for USC, receiver Sidney Rice set multiple Independence Bowl records on the way to his most productive game as a Gamecock. Rice set records in receptions (12), receiving yards (191) and also caught a touchdown pass. Running back Mike Davis capped his freshman season with 125 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Tigers, his second game in a row with at least 100 rushing yards. In the end, the Gamecocks’ defense could do little to contain Smith, a shifty quarterback who became the first player in Missouri history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season. Spurrier’s squad finished with a record of 7-5 and completed a season in which it beat Florida and Tennessee in the same season for the first time since joining the SEC in 1992. Rice was the surprise of the season for Spurrier and his staff. After a less than-spectacular spring, Rice became Mitchell’s go to receiver, setting school records for consecutive games with a touchdown reception, most receiving yards in a season and most touchdown receptions. The Gamecocks will be faced with the possibility of losing safety Ko Simpson and comerback Johnathan Joseph, who have both said they might forego the remainder of their eligibility to enter the NFL draft. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gtom.sc. edu Juan Bias! THE GAMECOCK Missouri tight end Chase Coffman tries to escape the grasp of Gamecock cornerback Johnathan Joseph. Katie Kirkland andJuan Bias / THE GAMECOCK (Left) USC freshman Sidney Rice set Independence Bowl records for receptions (12) and receiving yards (191). Freshman running back Bobby Wallace and the Gamecocks rushed for 142 yards and two scores. Katie Kirkland/ THE GAMECOCK Tennessee forward Dane Bradshaw drives for 2 of his 14 points in the Volunteers 76-69 win against USC. Men’s hoops beaten by Vols Gamecocks buried under second-half 3-point rainstorm RJBembry STAFF WRITER USC’s men’s basketball team opened SEC play Sunday afternoon with a 76-69 loss to the surprising Tennessee Volunteers. The Gamecocks (9-5) carried a 12-point lead into halftime, only to see the Vols’ shooters heat up in the second half and hit 10-of-13 shots from three-point range en route to a 5 3-point explosion. The Vols, under new coach Bruce Pearl, shot 50 percent from the floor, left the Colonial Center with a 10-1 record and snapped a threp-game losing streak in Columbia, while the Gamecocks fell to 9-5. “I am disappointed as heck that our team didn’t win the basketball game. I’ll make no bones about that,” Carolina coach Dave Odom said. “One of the things that we really harped on (in practice) is that you can not let their 3-point shooters get comfortable.” That, however, is exactly what Tennessee sophomore guard Chris Lofton must have been feeling as he hit 6-of-7 shots from beyond the arc, including a few that could have been good from NBA range. All of Lofton’s 18 points came from 3 pointers, but he wasn’t the only Volunteer with a strong second half. “(Dane) Bradshaw I think stepped up big for them tonight. I think he was HOOPS • 16 Carolina slip-up mars bowl spirit Texas’ win salvages otherwise lackluster football postseason I bet you can guess what the low-point of my break was. I’ll give you a hint: I was in meltdown mode for a solid 48 hours afterwards, and a guy «R0#H named Brad ^ . * political Smith was r . . science prominently student involved. Anyway, I’d like to go ahead and move past that and talk about some of the games that I can still discuss without throwing things. San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl — Navy 51 Colorado State 30 — I don’t really have anything interesting to say about this game, but the fact that the San Diego Country Credit Union has a bowl game makes me feel that my dream of one day starting the Tampax Pearl Tommy Bowden Bowl isn’t so unrealistic after all. Champs Sports Bowl — Clemson 19 Colorado 10 —Clemson beat a team that lost its previous two games by a combined score of 100-6, who also happened to be missing their MVP starting quarterback and had recently fired their coach. For some reason I’m not impressed. Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl — LSU 40 Miami 3 — The highlight of this game actually happened after the time ran out. In a postgame incident in the tunnel to the locker rooms, two Miami players were knocked unconscious. Although none of the fight was captured on film, we did get to watch representatives from each team come out and try to say there was no fight and nothing happened. At his postgame press conference, I could have sworn I heard Miami coach Larry Coker say, “There was no fight. Also, the Earth is flat.” Maybe that was just me. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl — Ohio State 34 Notre Dame 20 — The first thing that BROOm • 16