Rebels eager to keep playing...

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- At first, it was just another basketball game, a chance to play together one more time.

But after beating Arizona State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament, UNLV is starting to feel it's on the verge of doing something special.

The Rebels (17-13), winners of eight of their last 10 games, can move a step closer to Madison Square Garden with a victory over South Carolina tonight at the Colonial Center. The game will be televised by ESPN (Cable 30) at 6 p.m. PST.

"The last four weeks, they've played better," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "They're very much looking forward to playing."

Senior forward Odartey Blankson said: "It feels more like a tournament, especially being out here on the East Coast. It's got a do-or-die feel to it."

Added junior guard Ricky Morgan: "When you can win a game, it makes you want to win another. Everyone's excited to not only still be playing, but everyone's excited about winning another game and advancing."

The Gamecocks are 16-13, but they went 14-3 at home this season. The Rebels, needing two wins to reach the semifinals in New York, are 6-6 on the road.

"We've played in front of hostile crowds this year," Morgan said. "If we come in and do the things we're supposed to, we know we've got a chance."

Blankson said if the Rebels continue to play as a team, they can win anywhere.

"We know that as long as we continue to play hard, anything can happen," he said. "Right now, we're coming off one of our best games of the year. It's important we keep the focus we had (against Arizona State) and play the same way here."

South Carolina coach Dave Odom said UNLV reminds him of his team -- fast, quick and big. The difference is, Odom said, the Rebels are playing some of their best basketball of the season, and the Gamecocks aren't.

"Our game is coming back," Odom said. "We haven't played as well as we had earlier, but we're heading in that direction."

Odom said UNLV's diverse attack and depth will be a challenge.

"They're going to cause matchup problems for us," he said. "They can beat you so many ways. You can't key on any one thing."

Kruger said he hopes that trend continues tonight.

"We've had different guys stepping up the past few weeks," he said. "That's been a big part of our turnaround. Every night, someone else is giving us a lift."

? NOTES -- The UNLV-South Carolina winner will play the Cal State Fullerton-Georgetown winner at a date and location to be determined. The Titans and Hoyas also play tonight. ... Andy Hannan practiced Monday for the first time since breaking his nose Thursday against Arizona State. But Romel Beck will start in Hannan's place.

 

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Gamecocks ready for Rebs, fans


COLUMBIA -- South Carolina's students have settled back in after spring break, Steve Spurrier's football team has begun spring practice, and the Gamecocks' nationally ranked baseball team has begun Southeastern Conference play.

In the middle of it all, South Carolina basketball coach Dave Odom has felt compelled to remind everyone that his team is still playing, and in fact visited the Russell House on campus Monday to hand out free tickets to tonight's second-round game against the UNLV Runnin' Rebels at the Colonial Center.

"The dogwoods are budding, the azaleas are coming out, the swimming pool across from my office is open and baseball bats are cracking," Odom said. "I wanted to try and make our students aware that we have the potential for two more weeks of basketball. They will be very much a part of that if we're successful. We've got them there because they bring energy, they bring enthusiasm."

Hopefully, for the Gamecocks' sake, each student will also bring several friends, and all their relatives.

South Carolina drew 6,307 for last week's first-round matchup with Miami in the 18,000-seat Colonial Center, with students very much in the majority.

"That crowd was magnificent, for what showed up," said South Carolina forward Tarence Kinsey. "I think this game right here should be a better turnout and I think the fans realize that the NIT can be fun also."

The Gamecocks should be able to top last week's total, with approximately 7,100 tickets sold as of Monday afternoon.

If South Carolina can draw a good crowd tonight and win, it will enhance the Gamecocks' chances of drawing a third and final home game against the winner of the Georgetown-Cal State Fullerton matchup.

A victory there, and the Gamecocks are off to New York for the NIT's final four.

"First of all, we owe the NIT every effort to promote it," Odom said. "They've given us the opportunity to participate. We have two obligations. One is to play well, play hard. The other is to promote it if they give us a home game. That's part of what you do when you take on that responsibility."

 

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Resolve replaces remorse

USC?s seniors extend college careers with gritty determination in the NIT

No one argues that the disappointment was palpable among South Carolina?s basketball team one week ago.

But something else was in the air as well, something no one talked about.

The National Invitation Tournament offered a shot at redemption.

And it offered seniors Carlos Powell, John Chappell, Josh Gonner and Jon Land an opportunity to keep playing college basketball for a few more days.

The Gamecocks, after suffering five losses in six games, beat Miami 69-67 in their first-round NIT game last Tuesday night at the Colonial Center.

Powell led USC (16-13) in scoring with 18 points. Gonner hit the game-winning shot.

But their example was clear to the rest of the team long before they stepped on the floor.

?The seniors, they don?t want to go home yet,? USC junior forward Tarence Kinsey said. ?We saw that they didn?t want to go home, and that made everybody else not want to go. I know I felt if I was in their shoes I wouldn?t want to go home early either. So we might as well try to finish it out as best we can.?

The Gamecocks condemned themselves to the NIT with a string of lackluster performances and blown leads during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Another subpar effort in the NIT likely would have ended the season.

?The last part of the season was rough for us,? Gonner said of the seniors. ?We lost to some teams that we could have beat. We had some leads that we lost. Just coming back knowing that we could practice again felt really good to everybody. It wasn?t a big jump because we wanted to play. We didn?t want our season to end with the SEC Tournament.?

In practices leading up to the Miami game, USC coach Dave Odom said he realized getting the team to give its emotional and physical best would be crucial.

?I talked to them, trying to get them past that first game, that was our first major obstacle,? Odom said. ?We accomplished that. Barely, but we got by it. Now you begin to get the sense that you?re part of the tournament, part of something that?s real.?

Odom and the Gamecocks consider the NIT something worthwhile ? just as football teams view bowl games in places such as Shreveport, La., San Jose, Calif., or Mobile, Ala.

?If those bowl games are worthwhile, then the NIT is,? Odom said.

That?s the message Odom has carried to USC?s students, whom he visited at the Russell House during lunch twice within the past seven days to hand out free NIT tickets and drum up support.

It is the message the players and coaches said they are keeping in mind as they prepare to play Nevada-Las Vegas tonight in front of ESPN?s cameras and a national audience tonight.

?We?re still playing basketball so let?s just play and play to win,? Gonner said. ?Let?s not try to get an early vacation and get out of here.?



WHAT TO WATCH: The Gamecocks face a team with a similar makeup: UNLV has athletic perimeter players who rely on pressure defense. The Rebels, like USC, go eight or nine players deep in their rotation. USC?s top scorer is Carlos Powell, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound swing player who can drive for points off the dribble or post up bigger players. The Rebels present two match-up problems for the Gamecocks: forward Odartey Blankson (6-7, 220) and Romel Beck (6-7, 185). UNLV shot 59 percent in its 89-78 win against Arizona State on Thursday. The Rebels received a boost from guard Ricky Morgan, who scored 21 points after entering the game with a 3.4 scoring average.

ABOUT THE REBELS: UNLV?s NCAA Tournament hopes were dashed by a four-game losing streak between Jan. 29 and Feb. 7. The Rebels have won 8 of their past 10. The losses came to NCAA Tournament teams New Mexico (77-66) and Utah (73-67 in the Mountain West Tournament). Playing on the road doesn?t seem to bother UNLV as much as it does the Gamecocks. The Rebels are 6-6 in road games this season, compared to USC?s 1-9 record.

 

[IntenseOperator]

COACH ODOM COMMENTS ON THE UNLV GAME ON TUESDAY NIGHT

Good seats are still available for the 9 pm second round match-up with UNLV.


March 21, 2005

USC hosts UNLV in the second round of the NIT Tuesday night in the Colonial Center at 9 pm. USC Head Coach Dave Odom spoke to the media on Monday afternoon about the game.

Odom started the press conference with an opening statement:

"When I thought about the teams we've played this year - who UNLV compares to - surprisingly the team I came up with that they remind me of is ourselves. They remind me of us from a size standpoint, a quickness standpoint and a style standpoint. I hope that does not make (UNLV Head Coach) Lon Kruger and his team mad. I do think that he has designed his team the way a team should be designed. They have five very talented starters and they play nine-10 deep. Offensively, they play pick and roles, they shoot the ball well from the perimeter, but they run the ball more than we do. They are quick. Defensively, they pressure in the front court and the back court. It's a job very well done. He has done a very good job, he has his team under his thumb and they appear to be very comfortable in the way they are playing. In the last 4-5 games it appears their game is on the rise. They are playing their best basketball of the year. They scored 89 points against Arizona State and played very very well.

"When you look at Vegas you know we will have to play some of our best basketball to win or at least be in the game. Their guards are different than Miami. They play very unselfish basketball and can beat you in a lot of different ways. Miami's guards control the game and as their guards go, so goes the fortune of the team. Because UNLV goes 8-9 guys deep, they can beat you in a number of different ways. They have two of the better 6'7 players (Beck and Blankson) that we will have faced this year. They both move the ball well and are very versatile. They are very skilled. If both teams bring their 'A' game, the game will be very tight. We will have to be ready to play tomorrow night.


MEDIA: You said Vegas' game is on the rise right now. How do you feel about your team's game right now?

ODOM: Our game is coming back. I guess we are on the rise as well, but maybe not as much as Vegas yet. The last two-three weeks of Vegas basketball they have been playing very well. We are playing better basketball right now than the last 2-3 weeks of the season. We will start the same line-up as we started in the last game (forwards Powell, Kinsey, Wallace and guards Kelley and Trice). Our legs were as fresh yesterday in practice (Sunday) as they have been in the last month.

MEDIA: What kind of crowd do you expect?

ODOM: One of the things Gamecock fans get excited about - they get excited about ESPN, national TV and Sportscenter. They really get excited about television games. I think the students are more likely to come at 9 pm than at 7 pm because of they have their studies done, they have eaten - they will have themselves ready. I look forward to a very good crowd. The NIT brings out a different type of crowd because people who come really like basketball. They are excited we are in the tournament. They also don't get their regular reserved seats so different people are sitting different places. They get different seats because it's first come, first serve.

MEDIA: What kind of emotions do you expect from your team?

ODOM: Find an even keel for the team is the key to advancing in the NIT. It's easier to get their attention in practice when we play a better team, a better league, a bigger name. The team knows more about Vegas than they do about the Mountain West Conference. Half of them were probably pulling for us to go there, but the Vegas name has their attention.

MEDIA: Have you talked to your team about the big name teams that aren't playing now (that have lost and are done)?

ODOM: No, not really. I haven't really had a chance to do that and that is not something I do. We start post-season with about 100 teams and in one week you are down to 16 NCAA teams and somewhere around 24 NIT teams left. So we are one of about 40 that's left at the Division I level. I think they think it's important to be put in select company. We know there are 16 teams competing for the NCAA Championship. We aren't looking to compete for that, but we are looking forward to it to play some really good basketball and finish the season feeling good about ourselves. There were days when teams turned down NCAA bids to play in the NIT but no longer. It is a long and storied event with great heritage. I told them the other day 'if we are going to play in it, let's give it our best effort because it's the right thing to do.' They have responded very well.

 

[IntenseOperator]

I think SC brings it tonight. I esp like this comment....

MEDIA: What kind of crowd do you expect?

ODOM: One of the things Gamecock fans get excited about - they get excited about ESPN, national TV and Sportscenter. They really get excited about television games. I think the students are more likely to come at 9 pm than at 7 pm because of they have their studies done, they have eaten - they will have themselves ready. I look forward to a very good crowd. The NIT brings out a different type of crowd because people who come really like basketball. They are excited we are in the tournament. They also don't get their regular reserved seats so different people are sitting different places. They get different seats because it's first come, first serve.