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Mikhail Torrance’s 9-foot jumper broke a tie at 62 with 57 seconds left, and Alabama rallied in the second half to beat South Carolina 68-63 Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The first 20 minutes started off well for South Carolina, as Alabama struggled to match their intensity on both ends of the floor. The Gamecocks dictated the style and pace of play and used a late first half surge to take a 38-27 lead into the locker room.

The Gamecocks started off the second half strong and seemed to have complete control of the game. Lakeem Jackson’s layup pushed the USC lead to 54-36 with 11:39 to play.

But the Crimson Tide started to roll behind the play of Torrance and Justin Knox and went on a 10-0 scoring run in just over two minutes to cut the lead to 54-46 with 9:30 left in the game.

The drought continued for the Gamecocks, scoring just three points in a span of six minutes.

Alabama forced the Gamecocks into every kind of turnover imaginable — shot-clock violations, mid-court “over-and-back,” air balls, you name it — and closed with a flurry to take the lead with 1:12 to play, 62-59.

It was a 26-5 run for the Crimson Tide to take its first lead since the 10:09 mark in the first half.

The Gamecocks finally responded with a nice possession which led to a Ramon Galloway three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 62-62.

Torrence came right back and nailed a jumper with 57 second left to give the Crimson Tide a two-point lead.

Alabama got the ball back and had a chance to extend their lead but a steal by Downey and subsequent foul sent the 5′9 senior to the line with a chance to tie the game with 18.3 seconds remaining.

Downey, who was 83 percent on the season from the foul line, made just one of two free throws.

After an Alabama timeout, the Crimson Tide beat the Gamecocks press and found Green wide open underneath the basket for a layup.

After a pair of free throws by Alabama’s Tony Mitchell, it was all over.

With just four turnovers in the first half, the Gamecocks committed eight in the second, with five coming in the final four minutes, 37 seconds.

Alabama outscored the Gamecocks 41-25 in the second half.

Torrance finished with 17 points, Justin Knox had 16 and JaMychal Green added 10 for Alabama coming off the bench.

Downey led South Carolina with 21 points. Galloway had 14 and Sam Muldrow 13.

The Tide will play No. 2 Kentucky in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Post Game Quotes:

Darrin Horn

Opening Statement…

“I think for 30 minutes tonight we played extremley well and did all the things that we wanted to do entering the game on both ends of the floor. The last 10 minutes when we had a hard time scoring, they tried to take the ball out of Devan’s hands a little bit. We played like a team that was trying to hang on instead of a team that was trying to win and pull away. Credit Alabama, they made all the plays that they needed to make down the stretch, whether it was making free throws or getting big buckets. We missed a couple of big free throws as well, just things you can’t do in tournament time. That cost us the game.”

On how hard it will be to say goodbye to Devan after all that he’s done….

“Devan is obviously a terrific individual player. I think it could be a long time before you see someboby individually do the kind of things that he’s been able to do in terms of, not only the numbers he’s produced and the way he’s stolen the basketball, but just the way he plays. He’s an exciting player. From that standpoint, and having a veteran guard out there, that’s something that will be missed.”

Devan Downey Quotes:

“We played to hang on, we didn’t play to extend the lead and keep the intensity. We just played to hang on.”

“We tried to hold on, instead of continuing to play basketball, you know breaking the press, breaking the trap and looking to score, we were holding, holding and holding the ball out. We ran into shot-clock problems. So you know it was us.”

On postseason possibilities…

“I’d just like to play. I like my teammates, coaches. So just keep playing.”

Brandis Raley-Ross Quotes:

“It was probably my worst game ever. So I’m bummed out right now. Just trying to relive all the good moments. But I played like shit today.”

Alabama Head Coach Anthony Grant:

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys, just the fight that they showed tonight, our guys showed great toughness even when things were going bad, to stay together and fight and do the things that really we worked on in terms of building all year.”

Mikhail Torrance Quotes:

“Their shots were coming up short, and that’s when I knew we had them.”

PHOTO SOURCES:ap

Here are a few pre-game quotes and notes as we countdown to tip-off at 1 p.m.

Darrin Horn Quotes:

“Our guys are excited to play, we had a big road win in a game at Vandy on Saturday, where we probably played our best collective game of the year, all things considered.”

“We’re hopeful that we can carry that momentum and that confidence into tournament action. I think our guys, especially our seniors, understand that it’s a situation where you have to find a way to win to stay alive one more day. That’s kind of our focus coming in and we’re excited to play.”

“When we do that, we’ve showed that we can beat the best teams in this league, that was our focus on Saturday and that’s what we want our focus to be coming in for the game (today).

“I think the important thing come tournament time is your team ready to play its best basketball regardless of opponent, if you don’t do that, you’re not going to give yourself much of a chance.”

“We’ve got more wins in two years in the SEC than any two-year period since South Carolina joined the league, with the exception of the ‘97 year when they had 15 wins, a lot of these guys have been part of the East Division championship. These guys specifically, this year we had our first win over a number-one team ever in school history. We beat the top two teams in the league, which nobody else was able to do.”

Devan Downey Quotes:

“We know this game could be our last, so that’s enough motivation there.”

“The past two years, the underdogs have won it (SEC Tournament),  we’re kind of using those teams as motivation.”

Brandis Raley-Ross Quotes:

“It’s do or die, so we’re approaching every game as if it’s our last.”

“It’s momentum. It’s the game of basketball, you get a win, all of a sudden you’re making shots and everything’s going your way. You keep it going.”

Alabama Coach Anthony Grant Quotes:

Here are the online links for the Gamecocks opening round SEC Tournament game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.

Live Video Feed:

ESPN360

Gametracker:

CBSsports.com GameTracker

Satellite Radio:

Sirius Subscribers: Channel 213 Best of XM Package

XM Subscribers: Channel 199

- The Gamecock basketball team just wrapped up their one hour practice at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The primary goal of any road game is getting accustomed to the rims and the atmosphere in the arena, and the Gamecocks did just that. The team seemed very focused, spending time tweaking offensive and defensive sets as well as their free throw shooting.

The city of Nashville is expecting record crowds at this year’s event, in large part due to the frenzy surrounding the Kentucky team and local favorites Vanderbilt and Tennessee having successful seasons.

The Gamecocks face Alabama tomorrow at 1 p.m. eastern time in the opening game of the tournament. The game will be televised live on SEC Network affiliates.

- Former Gamecock great Melvin Watson (1994-98) will be one of 12 former SEC players and coaches to be honored at this years SEC Tournament as “Legends of SEC Basketball,” a program that began in 1999.

Watson, a 1997 First-Team All-SEC selection and a 1998 second-team honoree, still ranks as Carolina’s all-time leader in games started (116) with teammate BJ McKie, while he also ranks first in career assists (543) and fourth in steals (194).  Watson ranks 14th all-time in South Carolina history with 1,424 points and was a 41.1% career shooter. He is currently an assistant basketball coach at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill.

- Former Gamecock Terry Cousin has been hired by the University of South Carolina Athletic Department to serve as a mentor and counselor to football players.

Terry was a standout cornerback and kick returner for the Gamecocks from 1993-96. He finished his four year college career with 203 tackles, 5 interceptions and 258 kickoff return yards. After graduating from USC, Terry went on to play 12 seasons as a cornerback in the NFL.

Chicago Bears (1997–1999)

Atlanta Falcons (2000)

Miami Dolphins (2001)

Carolina Panthers (2002–2003)

New York Giants (2004)

Jacksonville Jaguars (2005–2007)

Cleveland Browns (2008)

Terry finished his NFL career with 371 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 13 interceptions. He spent last season working as a sideline reporter for the Gamecock Radio Network.

Terry and his wife, Carmen, have two daughters.

- Carlos Powell made his debut in China today and helped lead his Liaoning team to an upset win over the third place Zhejiang Lions 91-75.  Carlos scored 12 points in his first game since February 23rd.  Zhejiang was led by former UNC-Charlotte 49er Rodney White who scored 26 points. White was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 9th pick in the 2001 NBA Draft and spent five seasons in the league before heading to Europe and now China.

With the win, Liaoning improved their record to 19-11 and in prime position for the upcoming CBA playoffs.

Here are a couple of pictures of Carlos being introduced.

PHOTO SOURCES: photobucket,twitter,gamecocksonline,tennessean.com

- The honors continue to roll in for Devan Downey. FoxSports.com and CBSSports.com both named Downey First-Team All-SEC. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named the 5′9 senior point guard to their 10 member All-District III team, which includes players from North and South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. The Sporting News named Downey a Fourth Team All-American.

- South Carolina head men’s tennis coach Kent DeMars will be among the 10 inductees to the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame on May 26, 2010. Having already announced his retirement at the end of this, his 37th season as a college head coach, DeMars will cap a distinguished career with his profession’s highest honor.

“It’s the highlight of a career when your peers select you for this kind of honor,” DeMars said. “I’m humbled by the selection. It’s a terrific group of people that I’m going in with, and I’m ecstatic to join those that have been inducted before me as well.”

- Sticking with tennis, the women’s team won its fifth consecutive match Tuesday at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center, by defeating Wake Forest 5-2. The 20th-ranked Gamecocks improved to 7-3 with the win.

- Former Gamecock great Mike Dunleavy is out as general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, barely a month after relinquishing his head coaching duties. The team announced it had parted ways with Dunleavy late Tuesday afternoon. Assistant general manager Neil Olshey will take over Dunleavy’s job.

- According to a reliable source, the Miami Heat have expressed interest in Tre Kelley as a possible replacement to Rafer Alston, who has gone MIA from the team. The Heat signed Tre back in September of 2008, so the staff is very familiar with his abilities and the high character and professionalism he could add to the organization.

The Southeastern Conference announced its 2010 coaches postseason awards this morning with Devan Downey and Sam Muldrow receiving postseason honors.

Downey has been named to the coaches’ All-SEC first-team for the third straight year, and he and Muldrow have both been named to the SEC All-Defense team.

Downey’s selection marks the first time a South Carolina player has been named to the first team in three consecutive seasons. It is his second-straight unanimous selection to the squad and his second-consecutive selection to the All-Defensive Team.

Downey finished the regular season as the leading scorer in the conference, with 22.6 points per game. He also led the conference in steals, and is among the national leaders, with 2.77 per game.

Muldrow finished second in the conference in blocks-per-game, at 3.07.

Austin Steed was named to the SEC Community Service Team.

Steed has participated in After School Kick Off at Alcorn Middle School, Ronald McDonald House Day, Columbia Parks and Recreation SEC Can Food Drive, NCAA Diversity Workshop Participant, Dodie Academic Enrichment Center Ambassador and is an SAAC Representative.

Here’s the complete list of awards.

SEC All-Freshman Team

Tony Mitchell – Alabama

Marshawn Powell – Arkansas

Kenny Boynton – Florida

Eric Bledsoe – Kentucky

DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

John Wall – Kentucky

Reginald Buckner – Ole Miss

John Jenkins – Vanderbilt

SEC All-Defensive Team

Patrick Patterson – Kentucky

Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State

Devan Downey – South Carolina

Sam Muldrow – South Carolina

Jeffery Taylor – Vanderbilt

Second Team All-SEC

Mikhail Torrance –  Alabama

Courtney Fortson – Arkansas

Erving Walker – Florida

Tasmin Mitchell – LSU

Chris Warren – Ole Miss

Dee Bost – Mississippi State

A.J. Ogilvy – Vanderbilt

Jeffrey Taylor – Vanderbilt

First Team All-SEC

Trey Thompkins – Georgia

DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

Patrick Patterson – Kentucky

John Wall – Kentucky

Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State

Devan Downey – South Carolina

Wayne Chism – Tennessee

Jermaine Beal – Vanderbilt

SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year: Ray Shipman – Florida

SEC 6th Man of the Year: John Jenkins – Vanderbilt

SEC Freshman of the Year: DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

SEC Defensive Player Of The Year: Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State

SEC Coach of the Year: Kevin Stallings – Vanderbilt

SEC Player of the Year: John Wall – Kentucky

The Atlanta Falcons introduced former Gamecock Dunta Robinson this afternoon at a 5 p.m. press conference held in the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation offices.

As I mentioned earlier today, Dunta agreed to a 6 year, $57 million dollar contract with $22.5 million of it being guaranteed.

Click the link below to watch the full press conference video.

Dunta Robinson Press Conference

Here are a few photos from the press conference.

PHOTO SOURCES:AJC.com,atlantafalcons.com

- The Atlanta Falcons have signed free-agent cornerback Dunta Robinson to a six-year, $57 million contract, with $22.5 million of it being guaranteed. Last year Robinson made $9.957 million as the Texans’ franchise player, but he was unhappy with the lack of a long-term deal. In 84 career games (79 starts), the former Gamecock has totaled 382 tackles (310 solo), 13 interceptions, 63 passes defensed, four sacks, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

- The New Orleans Saints have released former Gamecock Jamar Nesbit. Nesbit, 33, became expendable with the emergence of second-year pro Carl Nicks at left guard this season. Nicks was a second alternate to the Pro Bowl this past season. Nesbit started 35 straight games at left guard from 2006-08, but was a healthy inactive late in the 2009 season and did not dress out for the Saints’ three playoff games. He was set to earn $1.33 million in 2010.

- Antoine Tisby debuted in New Zealand this past weekend and had a huge game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.

-BJ McKie has played four games with his new club in Argentina and is averaging 7 points per game.

-Tre Kelley continues to lead his Dongguan team to victories in China. The Leopards are now in contention for a CBA playoff spot.

-Carlos Powell has yet to make his first appearance in China for Liaoning. He arrived in Shenyang last week, a day later than expected due to a flight delay, therefore he did not travel with the team on their two-game road trip. Liaoning plays again on March 10th and Carlos should be in uniform.

- Here’s the latest NIT Bracketology, perNITology.com,that has the Gamecocks projected as a #8 seed and facing UConn in the first round. A win over Alabama on Thursday in the first round of the SEC Tournament should lock up a spot for the Gamecocks in the 32-team field.

Click the link below to watch the South Carolina vs Clemson baseball game live from Carolina Stadium. Scroll down to the Sunday, March 7th schedule.

South Carolina vs Clemson Live Video Feed

After a crazy Saturday, which included the Gamecocks upset victory over No. 13/19 Vanderbilt, the SEC Tournament pairings are now set. South Carolina secured the No. 5 seed in the SEC East and will play Alabama, the fourth seed from the SEC West, in the opening round in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised on the SEC Network.

Alabama defeated South Carolina in Columbia last Wednesday 79-70.

Below is the complete schedule.

THURSDAY, MARCH 11 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

1:00 PM – Game 1 (South Carolina vs. Alabama) – SEC Network

3:15 PM – Game 2 (LSU vs. Tennessee) – SEC Network

7:30 PM – Game 3 (Auburn vs. Florida) – SEC Network

9:45 PM – Game 4 (Georgia vs. Arkansas) – SEC Network

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

1:00PM- Game 5 (Kentucky vs South Carolina/Alabama winner) – SEC Network

3:15 PM – Game 6 (Ole Miss vs LSU/Tennessee winner) – SEC Network

7:30 PM – Game 7 (Mississippi State vs Florida/Auburn winner) – SEC Network

9:45 PM – Game 8 (Vanderbilt vs Arkansas/Georgia winner) – SEC Network

SATURDAY, MARCH 13 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

1:00 PM – Game 9 (Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner) – ABC

3:15 PM – Game 10 (Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner) – ABC

SUNDAY, MARCH 14 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

1:00 PM – SEC Tournament Championship Game – ABC

South Carolina rallied from a four run deficit to hand Clemson their first loss of the season 7-5 on Saturday in front of 7,105 at Greenville’s Fluor Field.

Jackie Bradley drove in four runs. Three two-out RBI hits from Whit Merrifield, Bradley and Kyle Enders in the ninth inning completed the comeback victory for the 15th ranked Gamecocks.

South Carolina is now 4-0 in games played at Fluor Field with three victories vs. Furman (2006, 2008, and 2009) and now one over Clemson (2010).

The Gamecocks improved to 6-3 on the season.

The rubber game is set for 2pm Sunday at Carolina Stadium.

Post Game Quotes:

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner

“It was a great comeback, I’m proud of my team. It’s a good sign that you can battle.”

On Jackie Bradley

“He possesses some intangibles that you’d like to instill in all of your players, he has confidence even when you have some adversity.”

Whit Merrifield

“We wanted to even this series up and take it back to Columbia,”

Jackie Bradley

“We knew if we fought and got this win, we’d go back home. That’s where we play best,”

Clemson coach Jack Leggett

“We were aggressive early today, and then we got a little bit tentative. We need to keep it up, even though you’ve got four runs, you’ve got to play nine full innings. You know it’s not going to be easy.”

“We came out ready to go and pitched pretty well, we let the game slide away from us in the ninth inning.”

Darrin Horn drew the play up for his senior in the huddle, and Devan Downey executed.

To perfection.

Downey came off a ball screen and hit a 3-pointer with 1:48 left to break a 69-all tie, and South Carolina upset Vanderbilt (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) 77-73 on Saturday in its regular season finale. South Carolina (15-15, 6-10) snapped a six-game skid with a victory that pushed the Gamecocks up to the East’s fifth seed in the upcoming Southeastern Conference tournament.

“He’s done that his whole career,” Horn said. “It’s never about what somebody’s done something to him. It’s about, ‘It’s time to win,’ and he’s a young man who really relishes that moment. He made some huge plays tonight.”

Downey had just four points in the first half, but the league’s top scorer finished with 26 in rallying the Gamecocks. The senior said his teammates agreed to keep fighting.

“Right now, just playing for pride,” Downey said. “We got a big win, Top 25 win on the road. We’ve just got to carry that momentum into the SEC tournament.”

Vanderbilt (23-7, 12-4) already had the No. 2 seed in the East locked up before blowing a 10-point lead by going cold from the floor for 9:20. The Commodores rallied and tied it for the ninth time at 69 on Jermaine Beal ’s 3-pointer.

Downey answered with his sixth 3, Beal missed his 3-pointer and also missed a layup on the next trip down the floor. South Carolina hit 2 of 4 free throws to seal the victory.

Sam Muldrow added 20 points for South Carolina.

Beal finished with 21 for Vandy in the senior’s final home game, A.J. Ogilvy had 15 and Jeff Taylor 13.

South Carolina had struggled against Vanderbilt, losing 79-69 in Columbia on Jan. 16, and the Gamecocks came to Memorial Gym having lost seven of the last eight in this series overall.

Downey, averaging a league-high 26.2 points, was the key as he bounced back from a poor first half in which he hit only 2 of 9 from the floor. He had only 11 points with 10 minutes left when he finally got going, keying a 16-0 spurt with 10 points.  Downey said assistant coach Neill Berry talked to him at halftime.

“I was getting good looks but wasn’t prepared to shoot so it was more mental, me being ready to shoot,” Downey said.

Stallings said he knew Downey would come back on the Commodores.

“He’ll come out and try and go crazy, and he did,” Stallings said.

Just as Downey got scoring, the Commodores went cold after John Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with 12:21 to put them up 53-43 with 12:21 left.

After Beal hit two free throws, Muldrow got the Gamecocks started with a bucket, then Downey heated up. The senior hit back-to-back 3s, stole the ball and scored on a layup and also had a pair of free throws that pushed South Carolina up 64-57. Downey’s bucket with 4:10 to go pushed the lead to 68-59.

Vanderbilt finally started scoring again. Ogilvy hit a pair of free throws, then Jenkins hit a 3, ending a drought that stretched 9:20.

A sellout crowd of 14,316 tried to scream the Commodores to victory on a home-court where they had been 14-1 this season, but they couldn’t counter Downey. The senior threw his entire body into launching a 3 that put the Gamecocks ahead to stay for good.

Beal scored on a pair of layups that just weren’t enough as time ran out.

South Carolina wound up outshooting Vanderbilt 49.1 percent to 42.9 percent, while out-rebounding the Commodores 33-28.

Blame the early afternoon tipoff or simply sloppy play, but the teams swapped the lead seven times with five ties in the first half of a physical start – the two teams averaged more than a foul per minute early.

Four Gamecocks had at least three fouls each with 10 minutes left, while three Commodores had three apiece before the teams finished with a combined 40 fouls.

Post Game Quotes:

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn

On the importance of the win:

“The win is obviously really big for us heading into the tournament. I was really proud of our guys. It’s the first time in a while I thought from start to finish we competed and played like we thought we could win and everybody did their part.”

On the team’s successful free-throw shooting:

“It was crucial to get there as much as we did, and get the ball in the basket. We had a lot of different guys step up and make big ones: Sam (Muldrow), Brandis (Raley-Ross), Ramon (Galloway).”

On Sam Muldrow’s big game:

“We challenged Sam. One thing about Sam is that he has tremendous pride and he’s always up for big challenges. He knows he hasn’t been his best the past two games, but I thought he was the best big man in the game tonight.”

On the end of the game:

“I saw that they were trying to trap Devan (Downey), and what Devan did a great job of was not throwing that ball back underneath the basket, where if it got stolen or deflected, they could score. I thought it was a really smart play. Those are the things that you have to do to win games like this.”

South Carolina guard Devan Downey

On offensive struggle in first half:

“I was playing with the flow of the game. I was getting good looks but wasn’t hitting shots, it was more mental. My coaches told me at halftime to keep shooting and every time I take a shot, I think it’s going in.”

On keeping the score close in the second half:

“We kept fighting in the contest. At this stage of the season, we’re playing for pride. The lead was cut in the second half and we had some bad breaks but we stayed together as a team.”

On what the win means to team:

“This is a big win for us. Hopefully we will carry this momentum into the SEC Tournament.”

On final possession of game:

“I got the inbounds pass and I could hear Vandy’s head coach Kevin Stallings telling them to not foul me but I passed it ahead to a teammate to keep the clock moving.”

South Carolina forward Sam Murdrow

On effort in game:

“The coaches challenged me to play well tonight because I’ve struggled in the past few games. I wanted to go out there today and play with pride.”

On first offensive possession of game:

“I was able to go to the post and make an aggressive move. I wanted to come out with intensity today on the court.”

On significance of win:

“This is a big win for us. It will get us ready for the SEC Tournament.”

Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings

Opening comments:

“We had control of the game and lost it, got tentative, and got beat. That’s all there is to it. We had too many guys who didn’t show up to play. I told our staff that South Carolina had lost six games in a row and weren’t going to lose the rest of the season. I was disappointed that, as a group, we didn’t do more to send Jermaine Beal out the right way. I thought he played well, we just had some no-shows.”

On South Carolina’s 16-0 second half run:

“We got tentative. I don’t know if we thought they’d roll over and play dead or whatever. We were not right mentally from the start.”

On senior Jermaine Beal:

“He’s going to his third NCAA Tournament. He’s a poster child for what a college athlete should look like. He’s ahead in school academically. He’s a hard-working guy who wants to get better. I like Jermaine Beal a lot and it goes back to the recruiting process. His mother once told me that I had him at hello.”

Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy

On losing on senior day:

“Obviously, it’s very disappointing. Jermaine (Beal) has meant so much to us and to the program and of course we wanted to send him off with the win.”

On Devan Downey:

“We did a great job of containing Downey in the first half, but he was making tough shots in the second half and we couldn’t stop him. That’s what great players do: they make big shots.”

Vanderbilt guard Jermaine Beal

On Senior Day:

“I knew eventually today would come. It kind of hit me earlier in the game, but I refocused. It hit me again after the game for sure. I’m so appreciative of all the players, coaching staff, and the Nashville community for supporting me. I can’t say enough.”

On losing on senior day:

“Of course it’s your last home game and you want to win it, but Derrick Byars lost his and went to the Sweet Sixteen. Our team has a lot more left in us and we just have to refocus, bounce back, and look ahead. Of course it hurts though.”

On South Carolina run:

“We were turning the ball over and missing shots. Downey got a few in a row and we just kept making bad decisions.”

PHOTO SOURCES:ap

Yahoo! Sports has released it’s 2009-10 college basketball All-Conference teams and to the surprise of no one, Devan Downey is a first team All-SEC selection. This should be the first of many awards that Downey will receive in the next few weeks.

Yahoo!’s SEC Awards

FIRST TEAM

G John Wall, Kentucky

F DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky

G Devan Downey, South Carolina

F Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

C Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

SECOND TEAM

F Trey Thompkins, Georgia

G Jermaine Beal, Vanderbilt

G Courtney Fortson, Arkansas

F Wayne Chism, Tennessee

F Tasmin Mitchell, LSU

THIRD TEAM

F Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt

G Dee Bost, Mississippi State

G Chris Warren, Ole Miss

G Erving Walker, Florida

G DeWayne Reed, Auburn

Player of the Year: John Wall, Kentucky

Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky

Freshman of the Year: John Wall, Kentucky

Newcomer of the Year: Vernon Macklin, Florida

Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnardo, Mississippi State

Sixth Man of the Year: John Jenkins, Vanderbilt

Most Improved: Travis Leslie, Georgia

Yahoo! Sports All-Conference Teams

Scott Wingo and Whit Merrifield each homered and Gamecock starter Nolan Belcher combined with four relievers for a two-hit shutout as 15th ranked South Carolina defeated Presbyterian 15-0 on Wednesday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 5,712 at Carolina Stadium.

Belcher was dominant on the hill for the Gamecocks with five scoreless innings and just one infield hit allowed. He struck out seven and walked one to earn his first win of the year. Matt Price also struck out one in one inning of relief with Parker Bangs striking out two batters in his stint. Freshmen Ethan Carter and Colby Holmes closed the game out with an inning apiece as well. South Carolina pitchers had 10 strikeouts to two walks on the afternoon. Presbyterian reliever Jesse Harmon went 1.2 innings and allowed seven runs on five hits to suffer the loss. He is 0-1 on the year.

The Gamecocks are now 5-2 on the year while the loss drops Presbyterian to 1-7 for the season. South Carolina returns to action with a three-game series vs. nationally ranked Clemson. The series begins on Friday at Clemson with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s tilt will be at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. and is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the finale at Carolina Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m. as well.

Post Game Quotes:

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner

It has been only seven games but our pitching continues to do a nice job, we used five guys today. Nolan Belcher had a quality start and we had some guys in the bullpen that got a little bit of work. We got a bunch of runs early with two outs, so that put us where we needed to be today.

It made me feel good to be able to put Jackie’s (Bradley Jr.) name in the lineup, it’s still early but I’m excited to have him out there. He gives us another dimension. If we can get him going a bit and get (Nick) Ebert some more swings, it will make us a better team.

PHOTO SOURCES:Smugmug

PHOTO SOURCES:photobucket,smugmug

South Carolina lost to Alabama 79-70 on Wednesday night in the team’s home finale in front of an announced crowd of 11,109 at Colonial Life Arena.

The Crimson Tide (15-14, 5-10 Southeastern Conference) came in having lost seven of their past eight and fell behind 11-0 in this one before rallying. Charvez Davis had two late 3-pointers, the second one that put Alabama ahead for good 65-64 with 4:29 to go.

South Carolina (14-15, 5-10) could not respond and lost its sixth straight.

Justin Knox and Mikhail Torrance each had 17 points for Alabama.

Devan Downey, the SEC’s leading scorer, finished with 23 points. He also had three steals to set the Gamecock career mark with 273.  Freshman Ramon Galloway scored a career-high 21 points.

South Carolina (14-15 overall, 5-10 SEC) plays it final regular season game on Saturday against Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Post Game Quotes:

South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn

Opening Statement…

As we talked the last couple of days, this was a game we wanted to come out and play with energy and give the kind of effort we think is required to represent us the right way. I don’t think there’s any question our guys did that. We got out to a great start. A lot of it was energy plays, (and we) made great shots which always helps. Without a question we accomplished that goal.

On the team’s energy…

Great energy at the start. We got made shots which always helps things. We were active and created shots off our defense; that was something we definitely wanted to do tonight. We tried for weeks to sort of manage games. It worked against Kentucky but in most games it didn’t work unless we got something off our defense. It gave us some really good things and got us going, especially on the offensive end. No question energy was there from the get go. We just didn’t make the free throws down the stretch that we needed to.

On offense…

We haven’t been a good offensive team all year, that’s why we wanted to press and create off our defense. There was a stretch we were good offensively and got to the foul line.

On Alabama battling after losing JyMachal Green…

I think we’ve seen it a bunch of times when a team loses a key player that somehow they seem to find a way to play with great togetherness and purpose after that. Obviously that was the case for them. Credit them too (because) sometimes we forced some of the quick shots we wanted (but) they made some shots at the rim.

On the 49-26 rebounding margin

Just in general that’s a big number. Sam’s number surprises me. He had one (rebound) at halftime and played 17 minutes. On a night that he has four rebounds, we’re probably not going to look too good on the glass.

On the freshmen…

The freshmen the last three games have shown you, specifically Lakeem Jackson and Ramon Galloway, have shown why we’re behind them and excited about the future moving forward. Even down the stretch we missed a couple and Lakeem was right around the rim. Those are the kind of guys you want to move forward with.

On a six-game losing streak…

Obviously it’s frustrating, especially a game like tonight when you’re home and come out like you want to. You have the chance to get the seniors a win at home and break the streak, but bottom line is in this game either you won or lost. We didn’t. The bigger challenge is moving forward. Not making free throws is acceptable. Losing is not but if you give the kind of effort and work the way you want to, you just keep plugging.

On Devan Downey breaking the steals record…

He’s a guy that’s really good at that. That’s a hard thing to do. Guys that steal the way he does are guys that have a knack for it. He broke Chuck Eidson’s record, and they’re different built kind of guys, but guys that steal the basketball have great instinct and feel.

On the freshmen…

Those guys getting experience and being relied upon much more than we anticipated will help them in the future as we move forward. They would have been on the road and been in situations and been in games being counted on. Those things are always important. That’s a positive.

Alabama Head Coach Anthony Grant

Opening Statement…

Devan Downey is the guy I’ve had a chance to see since he was going to his senior year in high school. He’s a guy that every coach respects and fears. I thought the emotion he brought and Raley-Ross brought at the beginning of the game put us back on our heels. I’m proud of the effort our guys gave and the ability to stick together to weather that storm and win the game. Today was a character win for our basketball team. It’s great to see them fight and stay together through the adversity we’ve had to face.

On the win…

Great character win. We faced adversity early. It was a nip and tuck game back and forth. Our guys kicked in at the end of the game from a defensive standpoint. We were able to do the things we needed to do to come out with the win. There were a lot of different scenarios that came up that we showed great character.

On South Carolina…

South Carolina is very aggressive with the way they come after you with the press. We felt like we had to attack. If you play on your heels you play right into their game. In the second half we did a much better job. We only had four turnovers in the second half. Anytime we did not turn it over we were able to get good looks at the basket.

On the rebounding margin…

Our guys did a great job. Look at the numbers. Chris Hines was phenomenal in the first half. We did the things we needed to do to go on the road and get a (win) on senior night here.

On playing together…

We knew they would be aggressive and we had to attack and guys had to be available and want the basketball. We did a good job of playing together and looking for each other. We had 14 assists on the night which is higher than our average. The key for us is to continue to be unselfish and play together, and we did a good job of that tonight.

There’s a process of learning what it takes to win. Tonight we took a step in the right direction.

PHOTO SOURCES:AP,smugmug

The 2010 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana has ended and the early reports on Clifton Geathers, Eric Norwood and Darian Stewart have been very positive.

Here are the measurements and unofficial times for the three Gamecocks and a comparison as to how they ranked against their fellow participants at their position.

Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Eric Norwood.

36 Linebackers Performed Various Drills

Height: 6007

Weight: 245

Arm: 33 3/8

Hand: 9 1/2

40-Yard Dash: 4.67 (12th fastest out of the 32 linebackers who performed the drill)

Vertical Jump: 36.5 (9th highest out of the linebackers who performed the drill)

Broad Jump: 9′07 (5th longest out of the 15 linebackers who performed the drill)

225-lb Bench Press: Eric opted out of this event.

20-Yard Shuttle: 4.23 (6th fastest out of the linebackers who performed the drill)

Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Clifton Geathers.

66 Defensive Linemen Performed Various Drills

Height: 6074

Weight: 299

Arms: 37 3/4 (Longest Arms out of the 328 players at the Combine)

Hands: 11 1/8 (Second largest Hands at the Combine)

40-Yard Dash: 4.96 (37th fastest out of the 53 DL who performed the drill)

225-lb Bench Press: 26 reps (19th most out of the 50 DL who performed the drill)

Vertical Jump: 36.0 (11th highest out of the 24 DL who performed the drill)

Broad Jump: 9′04 (24th longest out of the 47 DL who performed the drill)

Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Darian Stewart.

53 Defensive Backs performed drills.

Height: 5110

Weight: 213

Arm: 32 1/2

Hand: 8 7/8

40-Yard Dash: 4.50 (18th fastest out of the 47 defensive backs who performed the drill)

225-lb Bench Press: 12 reps (30th most out of the 43 defensive backs who performed the drill)

Vertical Jump: N/A

Broad Jump: N/A

3-Cone Drill: N/A

20-Yard Shuttle: N/A

60-Yard Shuttle: N/A

NOTE: These results could change, specifically those that are timed, as the NFL officials continue to analyze their laser timing system. Additional results for Darian Stewart should become available over the next few days.

Fifth-year senior Dominique Archie confirmed this afternoon that he will apply for a sixth year of eligibility. Archie can not formally apply until the end of this season but will submit the paperwork as soon as possible. Coach Horn stated that if Archie’s request is denied, they will immediately appeal. In the meantime, Horn, Archie and USC’s NCAA compliance officer have been researching over 600 similar cases to see if they can find historical precedent.

Archie suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the Gamecocks fifth game on November 22. The 6′7 forward was averaging 14.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game at the time of his injury.

Here’s a rendering of the proposed north end zone expansion at Williams-Brice Stadium and the changes to the Farmers Market area. This view has the State Fairgrounds parking on the left side of the images and the Cockaboose Railroad on the right.

Clifton Geathers just completed his on-field workout this morning with his group of defensive lineman at the NFL Scouting Combine. Clifton measured in at 6′7, 299 lbs, with an arm length of 37 3/4 inches. He bench pressed 225 lbs, 26 times and ran the 40 yard dash in a solid 4.96 and 4.99.

Arizona State DE Dexter Davis set the unofficial pace with a blazing 4.64.

Florida DE Carlos Dunlap ran an impressive 4.71.

Alabama DT Terrence Cody wasn’t quite as fleet of foot as the rest of his competitors, clocking an unofficial 5.64-second 40 in his first run, and a 5.75 in his second.

Top-rated defensive tackle from Oklahoma, Gerald McCoy,  whom many scouts are projecting to go second overall to the Lions, unofficially ran a 4.96 in his first 40, but he dropped to 5.14 in his second.

Clifton said that some teams are looking to play him at defensive tackle on occasion stating,  “Some teams are looking for me to be a defensive end. And some looking at me being a defensive tackle on third down and bringing some of the smaller guys in.”

Eric Norwood measured in at 6-foot 7/8, 239 lbs. He ran an unofficial 4.67-second 40 in his first attempt and a 4.74 in his second. Eric will take part in all the drills except the bench press.

Darian Stewart will workout tomorrow.

Check back later for more updates.