Cocks can't bust through Trojans, 85-75

[The Gamecock Outlaw]

Cocks can't keep pace with Trojans tonight.

[scfan2001]

Pts for the title.

[SangareeCrew]

nice title.

[carolinathru&thru]

I knew that somehow.....someway.....someone would work in a suggestive post somewhere.

Congratulations. You are that someone.

[The Gamecock Outlaw]

thank you thank you, I'd like to thank my Mom and Dad for always believeing in me. My manager, my lawyer, my doctor, my dentist and last but not least, God who without him none of this would be possible!

[GamecockStud]

Yeah, cute title, but can we hit our effing shotz? please!?!?!

[carolinathru&thru]

thank you thank you, I'd like to thank my Mom and Dad for always believeing in me. My manager, my lawyer, my doctor, my dentist and last but not least, God who without him none of this would be possible!

:clap:


:lol: :lol: :lol:

[CockynTN]

Cocks cant "get up" for Trojans hahahahahahahahaha

[LtSmokes1]

wow, i was at the game, we played horrible, horrible Defense, and we couldn't make a damn layup to save our lives. Downey kept running into the paint where 4 trojan defenders were and just threw the ball in the air. Piss poor game.

[willy]

Yeah, cute title, but can we hit our effing shotz? please!?!?!


Thank the Lord. Someone who agrees with me.

[FoghornLeghornCock]

Posted on Sun, Nov. 18, 2007

http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/233179.html
Basketball | SoCal sinks USC

Freshman Mayo scores game-high 29, Hackett notches triple-double in Gamecocks’ first loss

By SETH EMERSON - semerson@thestate.com

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Brett Flashnick
Zam Frederick tries to drive to the basket against Southern Cal's Keith Wilkinson and O.J. Mayo.
Postgame report: USC falls to USC (http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/233182.html)Some may have come to see O.J. Mayo. Others may have been there to see a South Carolina men’s basketball team that had shown major signs of promise.
In the end, it was Mayo’s potential that went fulfilled, along with a key teammate that propelled Southern California to an 85-75 win.
In so doing, it delivered a quick come-down to an equally young Gamecocks team that entered this one feeling pretty good about itself. Instead, its first loss of the season showed it still has plenty of work to do, as was evident to the announced crowd of 16,620 at the Colonial Center.
Among them were 16 NBA scouts, doubtless there to see Mayo, who most figure to be a one-and-done college player. The super-freshman lived up to his hype, scoring a game-high 29 points.
But the presence of teammate Daniel Hackett —- who missed last week’s loss to Mercer —— may have been more important. The sophomore guard notched a triple-double, and along with Mayo hit key shots in the second half to keep South Carolina at arm’s length.
“OJ Mayo is as good as advertised. Taj Gibson is a really good player,” South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. “But as I was afraid, Daniel Hackett was the guy we couldn’t control.”
While South Carolina had its chances late, the latter part of the first half ended up being the difference.
After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes, Southern Cal pulled away to lead by as many as 14, and by 10 at halftime. The turning point came when South Carolina sophomore forward Dominique Archie picked up his third foul at the 9:49 mark.
The Trojans led 23-19 at the time, then went on a 10-2 run once Archie left. Archie finished the game with a team-high 20 points in 23 minutes.
“He played tough tonight when he was out there. We lost a little toughness (without him),” South Carolina guard Zam Fredrick II said.
But Fredrick declined to use Archie’s absence as an excuse. Instead the Gamecocks pointed to bad shot selection and transition defense.
“It was our first close game or real test in two years,” Devan Downey said. “I’m not making excuses. But I think down the stretch we just didn’t make the big plays, and our shot selection really hurt us.”
The Gamecocks, who averaged 97.5 points in their first games, were a different offensive team on Saturday night. Flustered by Southern Cal’s traps and ability to get back on defense, South Carolina played out of control at times.
It also could not hit 3s in the decisive first half, missing a number of wide-open shots. South Carolina shot 31 percent in that half, making just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc; Southern Cal shot 51 percent overall and was 3-for-8 on 3s in the first 20 minutes.
The shots started falling for South Carolina in the second half, particularly from Brandis Raley-Ross. But whenever the game got close, the Gamecocks did not convert on their end, while Mayo and Hackett hit key shots for Southern Cal.
Downey played the entire game, and Fredrick only sat for a minute. Unlike the previous two games, the Gamecocks could not afford to give them a break.
South Carolina never could cut the lead under five in the second half, despite several chances. When it got within five around the 5-minute mark, Mayo drilled a long 3, taking the final air out of the building.
The game finished with Mayo throwing down an open dunk, off a feed from Hackett that gave him his 10th assist. Hackett then turned to the student section and started for a few seconds.
On the other sideline, it does not get any easier: They could face two ranked opponents in next week’s Old Spice Classic in Orlando.
“I told the guys, it’s only one loss,” Downey said. “That’s a good team, an NCAA tournament team. You know, a few plays here and there we could’ve won the ball game. We’re still young, so I think that was a good test. Now we’ve just got to practice hard and get ready for Orlando.”
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
Southern Cal 85 South Carolina 75


SouthernCal4045—85SouthCarolina3045—75 SOUTHERNCALMPFGFTRAPFPTS Gibson312-94-68048 Johnson362-31-21326 Hackett406-98-81010222 Lewis346-166-742418 Mayo3811-204-444129 Simmons20-00-03000 Wilkinson131-10-01022 Cromwell00-00-00110 Cunningham60-00-01020 Totals20028-5823-2740201885 SOUTHCAROLINAMPFGFTRAPFPTS Archie239-131-370420 Holmes213-100-04036 Downey405-184-424415 Raley-Ross285-64-542218 Fredrick374-155-531314 Gray80-10-04020 Day160-20-04010 Baniulis100-00-01000 MuldrowIII170-42-27112 Totals20026-6916-193982075 3-Point Goals: Southern Cal 6-17, (Mayo 3-10, Hackett 2-2, Johnson 1-2, Lewis 0-3).South Carolina 7-18, (Raley-Ross 4-5, Archie 1-3, Downey 1-3, Fredrick 1-5, Day 0-2). Turnovers: Southern Cal 9, South Carolina 9. Officials—Ted Valentine, John Cahill, Joe Lindsay.

The good news was we were not out rebounded and we shot well on free throws our shooting percentage was bad and Southern Cals was very good. You need to click the link to really see clearly the stats I mentioned.

[SnellvilleSpur]

I think 'TROJANS COVER COCKS" is more apropos.

[Crazy_Gamecock]

I don't think it was a horrible game. Southern Cal is a good team. They are a top 20 team even though they don't have the ranking. I was glad that we kept shooting even though they weren't falling in because there in the second half they caught fire for a good little bit. Now I do agree with the couple of people that said the defense played horrible. They were just pitiful which I am not used to seeing from our team. I would rather us be bad on offense. Mayo quietly got 30 points on us because the man that killed us was Hackett. You can't allow a quality opponent easy looks at the basket and allow them to hit 50% from the floor. The game was what I thought it would be and I think it will help us down the road. Devan definitely needs to learn to pass it out when he drives. When he drives and there are 3 defenders surely we can find someone open.

[evilpoptart]

We have the guard play to compete with anyone... we just dont have a solid inside presence.

[SpuR48]

Our inside game lacks so badly that whenever their big guys would get the ball in the paint, all of our forwards went to the ball which left the 3 open on multiple occasions. Mayo was wide open for alot of his three pointers.

We did well, I'm still optimistic about this team. Downey is a player for sure, and Archie has grown alot. Other than the annoying UNC fan that was practically asking to have mayo's children (he was sitting in front of me) I had a good time.