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I THiH&AMECOCK SPfPTS Page 8 I — L. ■ ^3 Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 Bulldogs squeak by Gamecocks Dmw OAk^ / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS USC forward Brandon Wallace tries to stop a shot attempt by Georgia’s Mike Mercer in the second half of Thursday’s game. Georgia’s Billy Humphrey hit a game-winning putback with 26.1 seconds remaining to give his team the win. Balkmans last-second jumper off the mark as Georgia holds on to heat USC in Athens George Henry THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATHENS, Ga. — Billy Humphrey made amends as best he could for Georgia. “I guess it was like an apology to our team and our fans and our coaching staff,” Humphrey said. Along with fellow freshman guard Mike Mercer, Humphrey was coming off a one-game suspension for violating an unspecified minor team rule. His game-winning putback with 26.1 seconds remaining ended the scoring as the Bulldogs beat USC 48-47 in a sloppy Southeastern Conference game Thursday night. The teams combined for 38 turnovers, including one by the Gamecocks’ Tre’ Kelley and another by Georgia’s Kevin Brophy in the final 2.1 seconds. “I think what we saw tonight was two teams that played hard, but it wasn’t a pretty game,” USC coach Dave Odom said. “They were trying so hard to win. They locked themselves up. We were tight. We couldn’t pass or shoot.” Renaldo Balkman missed a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer that would have won it for the Gamecocks. Mercer scored 11 points and Sundiata Gaines 10 for the Bulldogs, who swept a season series from USC for the first time in three years. Humphrey, who grabbed the ball after Levi Stukes missed a 3 -pointer from the right corner, scooped in a shot past two defenders. He finished with 8 points. “All I was thinking is, ‘We’re down one,”’ Humphrey said. “Anything I throw up is good.” The Gamecocks (14 12, 5-8 SEC) have lost two ^ straight. They couldn’t hold a 47-46 lead after Brandon Wallace hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2 minutes 23 seconds remaining. USC’s suffered a season low in points and a season high in turnovers. It’s hard to believe this team also swept No. 12 Florida this season. Georgia (15-11, 5-8) ended a three-game losing streak in the series with a 64-61 overtime victory on Jan. 14. The Bulldogs had dropped three straight entering Thursday. “This was a critical win for us,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “Our guys were hungry. We were kind of stumbling and bumbling offensively, especially in the first half. But we gave the kind of over-the-top performance on defense that got us back on track tonight.” The teams combined for a 6-for-35 performance on 3-point attempts. Guards Levi Stukes of the Bulldogs A and Tarence Kinsey of the ^ Gamecocks combined to go 0-for-11. Kinsey led USC with 15 points. Wallace had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Despite taking possession with 21.7 seconds remaining, the Gamecocks couldn’t get off a shot until Balkman’s ill fated jumper. Younes Idrissi blocked Kelley’s baseline runner out of bounds with 11.3 seconds left. Kelley then committed his fourth turnover from the same spot on the floor, 0 men • 9 Baseball prepares for Dukes Freshmen Cisco to get first start against Duquesne today in opener Robert Cdrli THE GAMECOCK Freshman Mike Cisco will have his first start on the mound this weekend, and the Duquesne Dukes will have their first game of the season at Sarge Frye Field at 3 p.m. Friday. The 5-1 USC baseball team will be searching for consistent batting after the past two series, which were saved by nearly perfect pitching performances and a team earned run average of 1.29. The Gamecocks sent the Radford Highlanders packing last Sunday after a two shutout and three game sweep. “I’d like to see more offensive balance,” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “You’d think you’d see more hits with numbers like that.” i ne taame.cocK onense was hardly balanced Feb. 28, 2004 when they last played the Dukes. The offensive slugged its way to a 20-2 victory in a home round robin tournament. This season, however, the Gamecocks aren’t averaging more than five runs a game and have a .255 team batting average. The Dukes’ batting average last season was .285. Although the Gamecocks lead the all-time series 10 0, Tanner won’t take the Dukes for granted. “We have some teams coming in this year that are looking at taking a shot at us,” Tanner said. Tanner will continue to count on freshmen Justin Smoak, Reese Havens and Cisco to fill the voids left by Steve Pearce, Brendan Winn and Steven Tolleson. Smoak and Havens are batting .263 and .2 50, respectively, after last weekend. Cisco earned his start after pitching two flawless innings against Radford on Sunday. “I’m just going to take it just like any other game,” Cisco said. “I’m going to look at how I have to execute pitches. I’m going to go in there the same way as out of the pen.” The No. 13 Gamecocks will be leaning on their less-experienced players more as they approach their Southeastern Conference opponents in late March. But the focus is now on the young Dukes, who have only five seniors on their roster. I have high expectations for everyone, and for freshmen I expect them to play good,” Tanner said. USC looks to improve its 64-2 record in February that dates back to 2000. The series continues at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwmi.sc. edu Meg Gaillard/ THE GAMECOCK Pitcher Forrest Beverly has won both of his starts this season with the most recent a six-inning no-runs performance against Radford. The Gamecocks take on Duquesne this weekend. The first game is today at 3 p.m. at Sarge Frye Field. Nick Esares / THE GAMECOCK USC guard Stacy Booker looks to pass during the Gamecocks 79-47 win against MSU on Thursday. Women take care of Mississippi State ^ Rebounding, forced turnovers lead USC to blowout SEC victory on Senior Night Tom Benning STAFF WRITER Despite 25 turnovers and a sometimes-stagnant offense, USC’s women’s basketball team coasted to a 75-47 victory against Mississippi State (6-20, 1-12) Thursday night. “You have to fe&el good as a coach when you can throw the ball around the gym as much as we did today and win by 30 against an SEC team,” said iUSC coach Susan Walvius. “This was the tightest I’ve seen our team play in awhile, and .Men • 9